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SCHOOL BULLETIN PUBLICATIONS 



MISTAKES 



TEACHING, 

V 

JAMES Ur HUGHES, 
H 

Inspector of Public Schools, Toronto, Canada. 



" If a teacher at all times keep a high aim steadily before 
him. and struggle incessantly to retain it in spite of repeated 
failures, his tery Mistakes, carefully noted and thought- 
fully corrected, will lead to gradual improvement and ultimate 
excellence." J. R. BLAKISTON. 



Second Edition, with Contents and Index. 



SYRACUSE, N. Y. : 
C. W. Bardeen, Publisher, 

188^ /3ft/o -; 

Copyright, 1881, by C. W. Bardeen. 



Notices of Former Editions. 



For young teachers I know of no book that contains, in the same compass, .so 
much matter directly bearing on their work, and capable of being immediately 
utilized. They cannot make a better investment of fifty cents. M. A. Newell, 
State Supt., Maryland. 

I have never seen a book of more practical value to teachers. At what rate, can 
I procure twenty-five copies ? B. B. Snow, City Supt., Auburn, N. Y. 

The " Mistakes in Teaching " has come and I have read it with interest. It is 
a useful book, and should be in the hands of all teachers. It points out clearly 
those things in which nearly all o*' us are guilty. I hope the book may meet a 
ready and extensive sale. B. M. Reynolds, Supt. Schools, Fairbault, Minne- 
sota. 

Mr. Hughes evidences in this little manual the good results of careful observa- 
tion and a thorough study of the philosophy of instruction, and shows practically 
how to avoid the mistakes young and inexperienced teachers ate liable to make. In 
this book he has condensed an immense amount of sound advice. We advise every 
teacher to invest fifty cents in the purchase of this useful volume. New England 
Journal of Education. 

It will help any teacher to read this book and find out his own mistakes with a 
view toward correcting them. New York School Journal. 

All young teachers will find the book a help in their work— one of the best to 
be had. Educational WeekIy. 

We know of no book containing more valuable suggestions to teachers. Central 
School Journal. 

It contains more hints of practical value to teachers than any book of its size 
known to us. Ohio Educational Monthly. 

Clearly presented and distinctly expressed, and cannot fail to be useful to any 
young teacher. The Schoolmaster, London. 

Admirably executed. Educational Times, London. 

In the elementary work of the first year in didactics, Mistakes in Teaching 
has been recommended. It is believed that " the first step toward progress in any 
department of work is to learn to avoid the mistakes one is liable to make. Young 
teachers, before they begin to teach, should know the rocks that lie in their course." 
A hundred common and almost universal errors in school management, discipline 
method and manner, are here pointad out and corrected. Prof. S. N. Fellows, 
Iowa University, in article on Normal Institutes,"IowA Normal Monthly. 

In accordance with the above recommendation, nearly TEN THOUSAND 
copies have been ordered for the Iowa County Institutes of 1881. 



PREFACE. 



Many good books have been written on 
the subject of teaching. Most of them, 
however, are too theoretical to be of much 
practical use to teachers in Public Schools. 
A knowledge of the general principles of 
education is desirable, but a thorough ac- 
quaintance with the details of school work 
is essential to success in teaching. Famil- 
iarity with the general principals of navi- 
gation would be of little service to a 
Captain on the Mississippi. 

The first step toward progress in any 
department of work, is to learn to avoid 
the mistakes one is liable to make. Young 
teachers should know the rocks which lie 
in their course before they begin to teach. 
Experience will then show how to shun 
them. 



IV PREFACE. 

A long experience in the training of 
teachers convinced the author that men 
of different ages and nationalities fall into 
the same errors in management, discipline 
and method. To point out some of these 
is the aim of this book. A similar manual 
may be expected which will treat of the 
mistakes made in teaching particular sub- 
jects. 

Toronto, December, 1879. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

MISTAKES IN SCHOOL MANAGEMENT. 

I. Neglect of sundry details , , . . . 9 

1. Entering school-room in line 11 

2. Erect position in standing and walking 11 
(a) But no walking on the toes. . . .... 12 

3. Lightness of step on stairs 12 

4. Standing while reciting 13 

5. Book in left hand while reading 13 

6. Near-sightedness avoided 14 

7. No leaning permitted 14 

8. Order in passing copy-books, etc. . 15 

9. Neatness, cleanliness, punctuality 15 

10. Leaving seat only by permission 16 

11. A best way to do things 16 

II. Yard supervision 17 

III. Mingling with pupils at play 18 

IV. Repressing youthful activities 21 

V. Standing too near the class 22 

VI. Taking hold of the pupil 23 

VII. Giving too many demerit marks 23 



VI CONTENTS. 

VIII. Censuring trifling errors severely 24 

IX. Continual grumbling 25 

X. Whispering under plea of "assisting " 27 

1. Cannot be so restricted 27 

2. Children cannot teach each other 27 
XI. Allowing disorder at recess 29 

XII. Invoking higher authority 30 

XIII. Giving of evidence not tale-bearing. . 31 

XIV. Tardiness on part of the teacher. ... 33 
XV. Carelessness in personal habits 34 

XVI. Sitting while teaching 35 

XVII. Commauds instead of suggestions. . . 36 

XVIII. Notifying parents. . 37 

XIX. Annoying parents unnecessarily 39 

XX. Temper in dealing with parents ... 40 

XXI. Disputing with parent before scholars 43 

XXII. Spiteful remarks about parents 44 

CHAPTER II. 

MISTAKES IN DISCIPLINE. 

XXIII. Teaching without good order 45 

XXIV. Securing vs. maintaining order 46 

1. The teacher should be Argus-eyed 47 

2. Must punish with decision 47 

3. Must be master of his pupils. ... 48 
XXV. Children do not want their own way 50 

XXVI. Order does not mean stillness 50 

XXVII. Do not startle class into order 51 

XXVIII. The noisy teacher 52 

XXIX. Disorder begins with individuals. ... 53 

XXX. Few rules 53 

XXXI. The best discipline undemonstrative. 55 



CONTENTS. Vll 

XXXII. Her voice was ever soft ; gentle and 

low. 58 

XXXIII. Children should not sit still 60 

XXXIV. No play in the schoolroom 62 

XXXV. The bell not a signal for order. ... 64 

XXXVI. Class should be kept in sight 65 

XXXVII. Discipline should be invariable. .. . 66 

XXXVIII. First control thyself 68 

XXXIX. Pupils should control themselves. . 69 

XL. . An order given must be obeyed ... 70 
XLI. Disorderly propensities not to be 

assumed 71 

XLII. Ridicule not a means of discipline. . 72 

XLIII. No punishment without explanation 73 

XLIV. Whipping nut simply disciplinary. . 77 

XLV. Whipping not a formality 78 

XLVI. No pulling ears, slapping and the 

like * 78 

1. It indicates bad temper and in- 
humanity 79 

2. Explanation should precede. .. . 79 

CHAPTER III. 

MISTAKES IN METHOD. 

XLVII. Do not question in rotation 80 

XLVIII. The question before naming the 

pupil 80 

XLIX. Question should not be repeated. . 81 
L. Attention not to be fixed on pupil 

reciting ...... 82 

LI. Rid yourself of slavery to text-books 82 

LII. Explain lessons before assigning. . , 83 

LIII. Do not expect too much home-work 82 

LIV, When lesson has been given, test it. 86 



Vlll 



LV. 
LVI. 
LVII. 

LVIII. 

LIX. 

LX. 

LXI. 

LXII. 

LXIII. 

LXIV. 

LXV. 

LXVI. 

LXVII. 

LXVIII. 

LXIX. 

LXX. 

LXXI. 

LXXII. 

LXXIII. 



LXXIV. 

LXXV. 

LXXVI. 

LXXVII. 

LXXVIII. 

LXXIX. 

LXXX. 



CONTENTS. 

Do not continue lesson too long .... 87 

Teaching once not sufficient 87 

Repetition, repetition, repetition. . . 89 
Detecting errors does not correct. . 90 

One correction not enough 92 

Not too many points in one lesson . 93 

Indefiniteness in teaching 94 

Smart pupils need least attention. . 95 
Do not give information too soon. . 96 

Do not use objects in reviewing 98 

Do not accept partial answers 98 

Do not repeat every answer 100 

Vary in methods of presenting 100 

Do not talk too much 101 

Avoid sesquipedalious 102 

Give ideas before words 102 

Do not simplify too far 103 

Make pupils work for themselves . . 105 
The teacher's golden rule 109 

CHAPTER IV. 

MISTAKES IN MANNER. 

Don't scold 121 

Don't threaten 121 

Don't grumble 122 

Don't be hasty 122 

Show animation 133 

Avoid cold formality 124 

Do not assume to be immaculate. . .125 
Index 129 



Mistakes in Teaching, 
chapter I. 



Mistakes in School Management. 



It is a mistake to neglect the details 
Of school management. What are re- 
garded by many as " minor points," un- 
worthy of attention, in reality form the 
distinction between a well-managed and a 
poorly conducted school. Minor points 
they may be, but the mistake consists in 
regarding them as therefore unimportant. 
Mr. J. R. Blakiston, one of the most 
thoughtful of Her Majesty's Inspectors of 
Schools in England, says: "The least 
gifted may take heart when he bethinks 
him, that success in school management 



10 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

depends mainly on watchful and unremitting 
attention to little deta Is and on conscientiously 
grappling with every difficulty as it arises." 
Without system no management can be 
complete, and in this case the paradoxical 
rule, the lesser includes the greater, is the 
correct one. 

He who is careful in the details of school 
management will, in nearly all cases, at- 
tend carefully to matters of larger scope. 
He who attends to the " minor " points will 
not need to attend to so many weighty 
matters, because .they will not turn up. 
The principle of " take care of the pence 
and the pounds will take care of them- 
selves " applies in school management. 
There can be no doubt that uniform atten- 
tion to particulars in connection with the 
deportment of the pupils in the yard, in 
line, and in the school-room, is a most 
valuable disciplinary agent in forming 
their characters. Habits are formed which 
will do much to decide the degree of suc- 
cess to which the pupils will attain, when 
they become men and women. 

Among the "minor" matters to which 



SCHOOL MANAGEMENT. II 

it is of vital importance to attend are the 
following : 

1 . Lining the pupils at the close of all re- 
cesses and marching them in regular order to 
their school-rooms. This should be done in 
a unitorm manner, and without haste, 
pushing or any disorder. For lining, a 
walk a single plank in width may be laid 
down for each class, if the whole yard is 
not planked. 

2. Pupils should be taught to stand and walk 
with the head erect, shoulders well back, hands 
at the sides, and eyes to the front. The habit 
of walking with the hands behind, while 
it keeps the shoulders back, unfits the 
pupils for walking properly, on the street, 
in the drawing-room, or in the ranks as 
soldiers. The experienced authors of How 
to Teach, say well : " Education is unfin- 
ished until the physical powers are brought 
into subjection to the understanding and 
the dictates of morality and social refine- 
ment. Children should be taught how to sit, 
to stand, to move, to walk. Rules are required 
for this; but they need to be only few and 
simple, and the nice and watchful observa- 



12 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

tion of children renders it quite easy to 
enforce them, provided they are not 
capriciously applied. Children must first 
be taught them, and then never permitted 
to violate them without admonition or 
correction." 

// is wrong to tell pupils to " ivalk on 
their toes." This is very often done by 
young teachers in order to prevent noise. 
In fact, School Boards sometimes give di- 
rections in their rules to have pupils walk 
in this way. It is not right to do so : ( \) 
because it makes pupils hobble; (2) be- 
cause it leads to the turning in of the toes 
in an awkward manner ; and (1) because it 
prevents an easy and elegant gait in walk- 
ing. Pupils can walk naturally without 
making noise, and they should be com- 
pelled to do so. 

3. They should be taught how to go up and 
down stairs. Most pupils go up or down 
three steps, while they ought to go but 
one. Two or three lines can walk on a 
proper school stair- way side by side, and 
thus no time will be lost by a steady uni- 
form step, Rapidity of step is, however, 



SCHOOL MANAGEMENT. 1 3 

by no means the worst evil in the walking 
of pupils on a stair-case. It will take a 
great deal of care and watchfulness to se- 
cure proper lightness of step. Pupils are 
inclined to stamp, when marching in time 
on a floor, or in any place where they can 
make a good deal of noise. They step as 
though striking snow from their heels in 
winter. They must be trained to hold the 
feet with the muscles of their lower ex- 
tremities and place them gently in the 
proper positions, instead ot allowing them 
to drop like inanimate weights. 

4. They should be made to stand up to 
answer questions or to read. Common 
politeness would require this. The change 
from the sitting posture, will be of great 
physical advantage to the pupils. The 
vocal organs have freer play when the 
pupil is standing than while sitting. 
Standing up should be done promptly. 
The pupil should not roll up or grow up. 

5 . They should be taught to hold the book in 
the left hand when standing to read. " Book 
in left hand, right foot slightly drawn 
back," is the uniform rule given by au- 



14 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

thorities for the position of a reader. If 
the book is held in both hands, it is 
usually brought much too close to the eyes, 
and the tendency is to round the shoulders. 

6. All work should be kept far enough from 
the eye. Near-sightedness is frightfully on 
the increase. Statistics carefully made in 
Europe and America show that, while 
only a fractional percentage of children 
are afflicted with myopia when they enter 
school, about 60 per cent, of those who 
leave it at eighteen are more or less affect- 
ed by it. This is a startling statement, 
and ought to cause every humane teacher 
to consider carefully what he can do to 
avert such a dreadful result. He can at 
least try to have plenty of light admitted 
to the school-room, only from the left side of 
the pupils, or from left of rear, and never 
from the front. He can also by constant 
watchfulness insist that the eyes should be 
kept far enough irom slates, reading books, 
copy books, etc. 

7 . If pupils are brought out in classes, they 
should stand in line, not lean against the wall, 
or on desks, etc. In fact whenever a pupil 



SCHOOL MANAGEMENT. 1$ 

stands up in school he should stand on 
both feet and avoid leaning. 

8. The passing of copy books, pens, etc., 
should be done in a precise and orderly manner. 
Writing books should be collected by- 
being passed along the rows from side to 
side, and taken up by one monitor after 
they have been passed. He should turn 
the piles on the several desks "end to 
end," so that he can place them readily on 
again when required. They should always 
be handed from pupil to pupil in the same 
order, so that they might be passed with 
every eye in the room blindfolded, and 
yet each pupil receive his own book with 
unerring certainty. 

9. Habits of neatness, cleanliness and punctu- 
ality should be insisted on. These may do 
more for the pupils than the mere knowl- 
edge imparted in school. No paper or 
rubbish of any kind should be allowed 
to litter the floor. Each pupil should be 
responsible for the part of the floor nearest 
to his own desk. The teacher should fre- 
quently examine the desks of his pupils to 
see that they arrange their books properly. 



l6 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

10. No pupil should be allowed to leave his 
seat without permission. If one has this 
privilege all must be allowed to do so, and 
all might choose to do so at the same time. 
Monitors may have a standing permission 
to attend to their duties without referring 
to their teachers every day. 

1 1 . The pupils should have a uniform 
method of doing certain things. "Oh dear ! 
you will destroy their originality and 
make them mere machines by compelling 
them to do everything in a fixed way." 
So talk some teachers who are unable to 
control their classes, and have therefore 
to find some excuse for their neglect. 
Does system wrevent the exercise of 
originality ? Will methodical habits cramp 
the "free exercise of individuality?" 
Any originality or individuality so tram- 
melled, must be of an evil nature which 
ought to be restricted. 

Pupils should place slate and books on 
their desks in exactly the same way. 
There must be one way, which is less 
noisy and more appropriate than others. 
Let the teacher decide on the best plan of 



SCHOOL MANAGEMENT. 17 

doing the work, and then carry it out in 
the most regular manner. There should 
be an unvarying signal for each move- 
ment in taking or returning books, clean- 
ing, and passing pens, etc. The aim 
should be to save time and avoid noise ; 
anything more than this is " over-drill." 

It is a mistake to omit yard super- 
vision. Pupils who are not controlled'in 
the yard, are not easily managed in the 
school-room. If children learn evil habits 
or hear impure or profane language at 
school, they do so chiefly during the re- 
cesses. The presence of the teacher in 
the play-ground should restrain what is 
wrong, without in any way checking the 
interest in healthful sports and innocent 
recreation. Rough games which interfere 
with the comfort of those not engaged in 
them, or endanger the limbs of those who 
are playing, would not be indulged in 
under the eye of the teacher. Without 
marching up and down with the air of a 
soldier on guard, he prevents wanton 
destruction of school property, or inten- 
tional injury to clothing, such as kicking 



i8 



MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 



of hats, and secures due attention to 
propriety of language and courtesy of 
manner. 

It is a mistake for the teacher to 
hold himself aloof from his pupils 
while they are playing. The presence 
of the teacher in the yard should have a 
double effect : it should repress the evil 
and develop the good. The child never 
reveals his whole nature as he does when 
playing- His physical, mental and moral 
powers are all then called into vigorous 
exercise. Professor Payne says : '* But 
has the instinct for play no deeper signifi- 
cance? Is it appointed by the Supreme 
Being merely to fill up time? — merely to 
form an occasion for fruitless exercise? — 
merely to end in itself? No! I see now 
that it is the constituted means for the un- 
folding of all the child's powers. It is 
through play that he learns the use of his 
limbs, of all his bodily organs, and with 
this use gains health and strength. 
Through play he comes to know the ex- 
ternal world, the physical qualities of the 
objects which surround him, their motions, 



SCHOOL MANAGEMENT. 19 

action, and reaction upon each other, and 
the relation of these phenomena to him- 
self; a knowledge which forms the basis 
of that which will be his permanent stock 
for life. Through play, involving asso- 
ciateship and combined action, he begins 
to recognize moral relations, to feel that 
he cannot live for himself alone, that he is 
a member of a community, whose rights 
he must acknowledge if his own are to be 
acknowledged. In and through play, more- 
over, he learns to contrive means for 
securing his ends; to invent, construct, 
discover, investigate, to bring by imagina- 
tion the remote near, and, further, to 
translate the language of facts into the 
language of words, to learn the conven- 
tionalities of his mother-tongue. Play, 
then, I see, is the means by which the 
entire being of the child develops and 
grows into power, and, therefore, does not 
end in itself." 

Dr. Harris says : " There is a great deal of 
talk about utilizing play, but play, strictly 
as play, should not be utilized; there]should 
be room for the spontaneous play of the 
child, with no restraint whatever." 



20 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

The teacher who fails to recognize these 
facts and make the most of them, never 
becomes acquainted with his pupils 
thoroughly, and fails to obtain his most 
natural control over them. In every sit- 
uation, except in the play-ground, there is 
some portion of the child's nature veiled. 
How important then that, instead of check- 
ing the playful spirit of innocent and 
healthful childhood, the teacher should 
have sufficient sympathy for it to develop 
it and turn it into right channels. What 
true dignity there is, too, in the playing 
of the full-grown man with the head of an 
adult, and the heart and spirit of a boy ! 
How different is this genuine dignity from 
the enamelled variety which cannot bend 
without cracking, and exposing the coarser 
or weaker material beneath. The teacher 
who cannot play with his pupils without 
" putting on the brakes" is to be pitied. 
One of the most valid reasons for not 
placing large boys in the charge ot a female 
teacher is, that she cannot, as a rule, take 
part in their games and exercises. 

It is a mistake to be continually re- 



SCHOOL MANAGEMENT. 21 

pressing the activities of childhood. 

There are three classes of educators. One 
dams up the fountains of the free tendencies 
of childhood, and turns the stagnant waters 
back upon the child life, so that they drown 
it Out ; another goes to the other extreme^ 
and says, " Let Dame Nature have her way 
unrestrained, let childhood unfold itself." 
He lets the waters flow freely enough, but 
they unfortunately have a natural tendency 
to flow in improper directions. Like real 
water, they flow "down hill," and far too 
frequently transform what might have been 
a fertile valley into a marsh. The proper 
method recognizes the necessity of a full 
development of the natural faculties and 
the free exercise of them, but it gives 
them direction without seeming to do so. 
It selects the channel in which the stream 
should flow, and inclines each little rill 
of character in that direction, so that as 
the stream flows onward it gains more 
breadth and depth and momentum, until 
it becomes a mighty river, bearing on its 
bosom freights of blessing toward the 
great sea of life. 



22 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

Some teachers are horrified if pupils 
laugh in the school-room. The discipline 
that cannot stand a frequent good laugh, 
is unnatural and unsound. Giggling and 
tittering should be forbidden as unbecom- 
ing, but a genuine hearty laugh indulged 
in by both teacher and pupils for a proper 
reason, may be repeated often with the 
best results even to the discipline of the 
school. 

It is a mistake to stand too near the 
class. In a well-appointed school the 
teacher has a platform about a foot high, 
extending across the end of the room, from 
which he teaches. This will give him a 
position from which he will be able to see 
every pupil. If he leaves it and moves 
close to the front row of pupils, he cannot 
take in the whole class with a single steady 
glance. Those nearest to him will be un- 
seen by him, and they will moreover be 
unable to see him. The results are loss 
of control by the teacher, and loss of 
teaching by the pupils, as no pupils can 
listen long with profit to a teacher at whom 
they cannot look. 



SCHOOL MANAGEMENT. 23 

Whether in the school-room or in the 
yard, the teacher should ahvays take such a 
position as will enable him to see every pupil at 
the same time. He should retain his posi- 
tion without fail when " lining " or " drill- 
ing "in the yard. 

It is a mistake to take hold of a pupil 
to put him in his place in Hue. If the 

teacher stands as he should, so as to see 
all his pupils at the same time, he cannot 
make this grievous error. To shake a boy 
violently into position arouses in him only 
bad feelings. It can only be defended on 
the plea of punishment for deliberate de- 
fiance, or laziness in executing a move- 
ment. In both cases the temptation to 
seize the offender is very great. It is bet- 
ter to resist the temptation, however. In 
the first case, the delinquint should be 
sent from the ranks altogether, and pun- 
ished according to the nature of the 
offence ; in the second, he should be placed 
in the "awkward squad " for extra drills. 
It is a mistake to give too many 
demerit marks. There are continual 
showers of bad marks in some classes. 



24 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

Bad marks for conduct, and bad marks for 
lessons. The teachers of such classes often 
complain, that " their pupils do not attend 
to the marks given." It would be sur- 
prising if they did, or their parents either. 
If the worst pupil in a well-organized 
school, receives more than five or six mis- 
demeanor marks in a month, there is cause 
for alarm. The teacher should feel 
ashamed. He has been giving marks to 
save himself trouble, or because he is 
afraid to grapple with a troublesome case 
in the right way. 

If a large number of bad marks is given 
for lessons, it is the teacher s fault in nine 
cases out of ten. The lessons are too diffi- 
cult or too long; sufficient explanation 
has not been given ; or else the pupils 
have not been taught how to study, or have 
not had proper incentives to study laid 
earnestly before them. 

It is a mistake to censure trifling 
errors too severely. Some teachers pour 
out their " vials of wrath " to the last drop 
on the heads of those whose offences are 
not of a very serious nature. Their stern- 



SCHOOL MANAGEMENT. 25 

est countenance and harshest language 
are called into requisition to find fault 
with the little unfortunate who carelessly 
lets fall his slate, or turns to look at his 
neighbor behind him. Pupils of such 
teachers soon learn to disregard even a 
command, unless it is accompanied by a 
thunder-bolt. They place themselves in 
an awkward position, too, for they are un- 
able to adapt the severity of their censure 
to the circumstances of the case. This 
has a confusing effect on the moral natures 
of children, by leading them to believe 
that all offences are equally grave in their 
nature. 

It is of the utmost importance that the 
teacher should never confound the accidental 
with the incidental, or thoughtlessness with 
design. 

It is a mistake to complain or 
grumble much. If there is one teacher 
who more than any other is certain to be 
disliked by pupils, parents, trustees, and 
inspectors, it is the inveterate grumbler. 
He would dislike himself if he had \he 
honor of his own thorough acquaintance. 
3 



26 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

He does not know how tiresome his com- 
plaining becomes. " I never had such bad 
pupils in my life ; I do not know whatever 
to do with them," he says, when some one 
in authority visits his .school; and his 
pupils despise him for it, as they do the 
tale-bearer of their own age. His visitor, 
too, regards him with pity, as one who 
seems to glory in his own utter weakness 
or incompetency. No large class of genu- 
ine boys or girls ever studied hard from the 
love of study ; or deported themselves in a 
uniformly gentle and becoming manner, 
because of their natural amiability. It is 
the teacher's duty to stimulate their love 
of knowledge, and to develop the better 
side of their natures, so that these qualities 
may become strong aids in managing and 
controlling his classes. Each pupil may 
require diffrent treatment in some re- 
spects. So much the grander does our 
work as teachers become. 

No teacher who scolds, or sneers, or grumbles 
can ever have the sympathy of his pupils ; and 
without it he can never control the?n, or secure 
their best efforts in their school work. He 



SCHOOL MANAGEMENT. 27 

who recognizes and judiciously commends 
the feeble efforts of his pupils will be cer- 
tain by this means to induce greater zeal 
and earnestness. 

It is a mistake to allow whispering 
on the plea of " allowing pupils to assist 
each other." Whispering during study 
hours is an unmitigated evil, and those 
who permit it make a grievous error 
There are some .vho, seeking for a justifi- 
cation of what they are too weak or too 
indolent to prohibit, defend whispering on 
the plea that " pupils should be allowed to 
assist each other in their work." 

This plea is fallacious for two reasons, — 

1 . Whispering can not be restricted to the 
limit named. 

5. Children can not teach each other. 

Is the art of teaching so simple that every 
child is capable of practising it ? No 
indeed. Few adults naturally possess the 
power ot teaching, and it requires a long 
and careful course of training to make a 
man of average ability and good culture 
even a fair teacher. How ridiculous then 
to allow every pupil to assume the duties 



28 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

of a teacher, when he chooses. But, if the 
plea is a good one, we must allow all pupils 
the privilege, for it will not do to show 
partiality. There can be no favored few 
with unsealed lips, while those of others 
are locked. What good would result even 
in the higher classes, if the pupils were 
allowed to assist each other ? Brown can 
not work his example, and calls on Smith 
who sits beside him, for help. Smith says, 
" Multiply the 4967 by 13 and extract the 
square root of the product, etc." He 
merely tells him what to do. Has Brown 
been developed in any way by the process ? 
Will he always have Smith by his side 
through life to tell him when to multiply, 
divide, etc., in solving his business prob- 
lems ? 

The teacher, who would allow this 
highly educative (?) process to be per- 
formed by their pupils, would be shocked 
to find them copying from each other, 
while solving their problems. 

Wherein lies the difference ? The differ- 
ence is simply this. Telling is a noisy 
method of copying. Their results so far 



SCHOOL MANAGEMENT. 29 

as securing answers, and the mental 
growth of the pupils, are the same. If 
either plan has the advantage in securing 
the advancement of the pupil, it is un- 
doubtedly copying, because Brown must 
do more work for himself if he copies, than 
if he is told by Smith. Copying is also 
the quieter method, and of the two evils 
is decidedly the less objectionable. 

It is a mistake to allow disorder in 
the school-room during recess. Pupils 
should not be allowed even to remain in 
the school-room during recess, unless the 
weather is unfavorable. Old and young, 
male and female, should take the oppor- 
tunity of breathing the fresh air, due pre- 
caution as to clothing, etc., being taken 
when the weather is cold. 

During cold weather, those who have 
any chest affliction may be permitted to 
remain in and rest, but they should 
not be allowed to move around the room, 
unless they do so in a systematic and 
orderly manner as directed by the teacher. 

If the weather is too severe for the class 
to go out, the relaxation should be taken 



30 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

as usual, and the time devoted to physical 
exercises, the windows being open for 
ventilation. Such exercises may be taken 
with pleasure and profit to all concerned, 
at the end of each hour for a couple of 
minutes. 

It is a mistake to invoke higher 
authority except as a last resort. As- 
sistant teachers otten send for the head 
master to settle trivial affairs. Wise head 
masters will, of course, prohibit such 
childishness. A principal cannot afford 
to neglect his own class to obey all the 
calls of weak or whimsical assistants. If 
a teacher could only realize how he humili- 
ates himself in the eves of his pupils by 
unnecessary appeals to the head master, 
or the trustees, he would adopt that means 
of escaping from a difficulty on very rare 
occasions. How can pupils be expected 
to respect a person, who .becomes merely 
a self-appointed spy, to watch for wrong 
doing in order that he may call in the 
head master to inflict punishment ? 

It is a mistake to confound giving 



SCHOOL MANAGEMENT. 3 I 

information or evidence with tale- 
bearing. There are many things which 
a teacher ought to know, which he cannot 
possibly learn without the assistance of 
his pupils. No proper rule should be in- 
tentionally violated without the matter 
being brought to the teacher's knowledge. 
Some teachers hedge their pupils in with 
so many cramping rules, that they cannot 
be natural and indulge in healthful boyish 
amusements without constant terror of 
breaking some of them. The rules for 
the guidance of pupils, when not under 
the eye of the teacher, should be few, and 
should relate to the protection of property, 
or the suppression of vice If school 
property is injured, defaced or destroyed, 
or if the purity or morality of the pupils 
generally is being ruined by the continued 
bad language or bad habits of a few, it is 
of the highest importance that the teacher 
should be made acquainted with the facts 
of the case. The tone of the school 
should be such that a pupil on doing 
wrong would report himself, if instructed 
to do so by his fellow pupils, who are 
justified in interfering to protect them- 



32 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

selves or their common property. If he 
refuses to do so, it then becomes their 
plain duty to report the matter, unless it 
be an offence of a comparatively trifling 
nature, for which the guilty one expresses 
regret, and which he promises not to 
repeat. To give information in a case of 
this nature is in no way related to " tale- 
bearing " in the usual meaning of that 
term. •' Tale-bearing '' means giving in- 
formation with mean motives : to expose 
a rival, or to secure his punishment. On 
the other hand, to give proper informa- 
tion requires the highest moral courage, 
and frequently necessitates self-sacrifice 
for the general good. 

There are some people who condemn as 
unmanly the giving information, when 
asked by the teacher conducting an in- 
vestigation into some case of wrong-doing. 
Whatever may be the opinion held in re- 
gard to the voluntary statement ol in- 
formation, there certainly is only one right 
view in which to regard a pupil's duty 
when required to give evidence by his 
teacher. "Unmanly" indeed! Is it un- 



SCHOOL MANAGEMENT. ^3 

manly for a witness to give evidence in 
court? Is not the school a miniature 
world, and a teacher's investigation a 
school court ? 

While "tale bearing" from mean and 
selfish motives, ought to be condemned as 
unmanly and ungenerous in the extreme, 
the teacher will do well to spare no pains 
to develop a spirit of frankness and honor 
in his pupils, which will lead them to give 
him assistance in every proper way to 
control evil even when he is not present. 

Wise teachers never seek occasion for 
making investigations of a petty nature. 

It is a mistake for tho teacher to be 
late. It sets the pupil a bad example, and 
is bad policy. Pupils will certainly not 
be punctual, if the teacher is not. They 
will be guided by his actions instead of 
his words, or rather they will estimate the 
value he sets upon his own instructions 
by the way he follows them. He will thus 
lose his power over his pupils in one ot 
the most important directions in which he 
can ever influence them. But it is bad 
policy for him to be late, even for his own 



34 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

sake. He should be at the school at least 
a quarter of an hour before the time for 
opening in summer, and half an hour in 
winter. If pupils get disorderly in the 
school-house before the arrival of the 
teacher, it need not surprise any one to 
find them difficult to control during school 
hours. Individual morning greeting for 
each pupil, is one of the best ways for 
gaining an influence over the class Their 
peculiarities of temperament may be 
recognized and treated then better than at 
any other time during the day. 

It is a mistake to be careless about 
personal habits. The teacher should be 
in ail respects a model for his pupils. His 
manner and habits are sure to be imitated 
by them. The best lessons he can give 
on cleanliness and tidiness are not lectures 
but good examples. He should do more 
than be a pattern, however. He should talk 
a little about manners, habits, methods of 
dressing, etc., and he should act a good 
deal. Inspection, without being a formal 
ceremony, ought to be invariably made 
daily. The boots may be noticed in line 



SCHOOL MANAGEMENT. 35 

before school ; the faces and dress at the 
first "good morning" glance and the- 
hands and nails during writing hour. All 
may be noted without having a set time 
for critical inspection. Delinquents, after 
having been carefully warned previously,, 
ought to be sent to attend to the matters 
neglected. If it be a small matter it may be 
attended to in the lobby, where the school 
apparatus for washing, etc., is kept. If a 
pupil often fails in any particular he 
should be sent home, that the matter may 
be brought to the notice of the parents. 
All parents whose good opinion is worth 
having will be under an obligation to a 
teacher who calls their attention to any 
bad habits on the part of their children. 

It is a mistake to sit while teaching* 
It is better for the health to stand, and 
move around as much as may be done 
without disturbing the class. The cease- 
less tramp, tramp, of some teachers while 
speaking to their pupils is to be avoided. 

A teacher has more control of his class 
when standing than while seated. He is 
also certain to be more lively and ener- 
getic in teaching. 



$6 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

Of course if he feels wearied, he should 
sit down for a while. Ladies especially 
may be excused for doing so. 

It is a mistake to give a command 
when a suggestion will do instead. 

Suggestion is a golden key that unlocks 
many a gate in the management of pupils 
■and parents, which would forever resist the 
battering ram of Demand and Compul- 
sion. Suggest and recommend any im- 
provement in dress, style, manner, con- 
duct, or in any department of school work 
or management, giving reasons in a clear 
manner, and at least one-half of your 
pupils will carry out your suggestion, 
either to please you, or because they are 
convinced that they will be benefitted by 
doing so. With one-half on your side, it 
will not be very difficult to establish a 
public opinion in a quiet wav fthe quieter 
the better^ in favor of the change. The 
seeds having been planted, let them grow. 
You only need to be patient and the good 
work will spread. Probably only two or 
three in a school will require much press- 
ure to lead them to do what is desired. 



SCHOOL MANAGEMENT. 37 

It is a mistake to allow pupils to be 
frequently troublesome without noti- 
fying their parents. It is an axiom 
that parents and teachers should work in 
harmony. So far as possible and judicious, 
the school discipline should correspond to 
that of the home'. The teacher should re- 
spect the rights and opinions of the parents, 
and they in turn should sustain the au- 
thority of the teacher. These desirable 
ends can be secured only by some system 
of communication between the parties 
concerned. 

There are always in a school a few pupils 
who, without being guilty of any offences 
of a very serious character, give the teacher 
a vast amount of trouble. No other class 
of pupils causes so much worry and annoy- 
ance as these, and after a time it usually 
becomes necessary to take decided action 
and suspend the offenders, or admininister 
a severe punishment of some kind. The 
punishment, whether by suspension or 
otherwise, is of course much too great for 
the last act of wrong-doing. The trans- 
gression is merely " the last straw that 



38 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

breaks the camel's back;" the penalty 
ii covers a multitude of sins." The parent 
of the offending child makes enquiry as to 
the cause of the extreme punishment, and 
receives from his own child or from others, 
if he asks them, a statement of the last 
offence only. He naturally concludes 
that the teacher is unreasonably severe, if 
not excessively unjust ; and unfortunately 
in too many cases he expresses his opinions 
in an emphatic manner in the presence of 
his child. Sometimes indeed he makes 
known his sentiments in a highly dramatic 
manner before the whole school. In either 
case the result must be a loss of respect 
for the teacher on the part of his pupils. 
Nor can the parent be blamed for the diffi- 
culty, unless he has been promptly and 
faithfully notified of the previous wrong- 
doings of his child, as they accumulated. 
It is well that these notifications should 
be on paper, and that they should be re- 
turned to the teacher signed by the parent, 
and kept for reference when necessary. 
If the pupil is old enough, it is best that 
be should write the note according to di- 



SCHOOL MANAGEMENT. 39 

rections given by the teacher. This will 
save time for the teacher, and have a good 
effect on the pupil. Of course in most cases 
such a note should be signed by the 
teacher, not the pupil. Occasionally the 
communination may be from the child 
himself. 

It is a mistake to annoy parents un- 
necessarily. When calling the attention 
of parents to any bad behavior of their 
children, or notifying them of any care- 
lessness or inattention to the cleanliness 
or tidiness of their dress or persons, the 
teacher is often unnecessarily sharp and 
unkind in his language. So far as it is 
possible to avoid it, the feelings of parents 
should not be wounded at any time by 
the teacher. He cannot hope to govern 
his class easily and in a proper way, un- 
less he has the sympathy of the parents, 
and he cannot have that, if he is discourte- 
ous or unduly severe towards them. Con- 
ciliation should be his motto. Respectful 
or even deferential interviews or corre- 
spondence, will work wonders in awaken- 
ing an interest in school matters on the 



40 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

part of parents, and in securing their co- 
operation and support. The teacher who 
can say to a parent, " I regret that Tom is 
absent so frequently, he is a smart boy and 
it gives the other children such an advan- 
tage if he is not present ; or "It is a pity 
.that such a pretty boy as James should 
ever forget to wash his face and comb his 
hair " will readily secure his objects, with- 
out in any way making the parents feel 
humiliated. 

It is a mistake to show temper in 
dealing with parents. Teachers will 
very often have great provocation to anger, 
on account of the injustice and sometimes 
rudeness and impertinence of parents. 
They will write the most cruelly unjust 
accusations, and make the most bitter re- 
marks about " paying taxes to keep the 
teacher in bread and butter," etc. They 
will even come to the school to browbeat 
and abuse the teacher. Under all these 
and similar circumstances he is the best 
manager who shows a calm and deliberate 
nature. He cannot be blamed for feeling 
anger, but he must not show it. He should 



SCHOOL MANAGEMENT. 41 

remember that the parent, in nearly every 
case, reasons correctly according to the in- 
formation he has received. He has heard 
only one side of the case, and that is 
usually greatly exaggerated, if not grossly 
misrepresented. True, he should not de- 
cide until he has heard both sides, but 
affection for his child, whom he regards 
as unjustly treated, and whose rights he as 
a parent is bound to maintain, makes him 
forget this. He receives the child's state- 
ments as facts, and naturally gets excited. 
It is safe to say that very few parents get 
angry at teachers without sufficient reason, 
if the child's evidence is taken as correct. 
Granted that the tacts are as stated, the 
reasoning of parents is nearly always right, 
and their anger but the expression of their 
chivalrous feelings, as the natural pro- 
tectors of the children God has given them. 
But the facts are not usually as related by 
the pupils. Without being guilty of any de- 
liberate falsehood, they are not likely to 
give a correct account of a punishment 
they have received, or any circumstances 
with which they are directly connected. 



42 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

Herein lies the secret of the teacher's 
power over angry parents, if he uses it 
judiciously. 

If an indignant parent finds an angry 
teacher he receives the clearest proof pos- 
sible that the teacher is unreasonable ; 
and is certain to obtain sufficient evidence 
to corroborate his child's statements. An 
angry teacher will do as any other angry 
person does. He will be sure to say 
something unkind or unjust, and in this 
way give the parent, what he had not 
before, a good ground for complaint. If 
the two charged batteries come together 
there is certain to be an explosion. 

If the teacher is cool, and in corre- 
spondence or by personal interview shows 
the parent that his child's version is incor- 
rect, his victory is speedily secured, and 
one such victory is sufficient. A parent 
so convinced is convinced forever. Now, 
no teacher can make a parent believe his 
child to be guilty of misrepresentation, 
unless he first convinces him that he is 
absolutely impartial, and without the 
slightest degree of animosity or prejudice 



SCHOOL MANAGEMENT. 43 

against him. He cannot do this, if he 
shows any temper in his dealings with the 
parent. If, however, his manner is firm 
but quiet, and his language definite but 
moderate, he at once relieves the parent of 
the impression that he has a prejudice 
against the child, and the matter is amicably 
settled. The teacher cannot achieve so 
great a triumph in any other way. He 
does not merely defeat an enemy,he secures 
a friend. 

It is a mistake to dispute with an 
angry parent before the class. If the 

teacher gets angry, too, the pupils witness 
an unseemly quarrel ; if he does not, some 
of his class will think he is afraid. In 
either case the work of the school is inter- 
rupted, and the respect ot the pupils for 
the authority of the teacher is lessened. 
They cannot regard his power as very 
great, if a parent may come and question 
it in an offensive and contemptuous 
manner. If a parent comes for an expla- 
nation of any misunderstanding in regard 
to school management the teacher should 
receive him courteously at the door, give 



44 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

his class some work to occupy it for a few 
minutes, and step outside to make the 
necessary explanation. If the parent is 
exceedingly unreasonable, the teacher 
should quietly inform him that his time 
must now be devoted to his class, but that ifthe 
parent will call again after school, or re- 
ceive a call from him, he will be able to 
give the matter further consideration. 

It is a mistake to make spiteful re- 
marks before the class about notes re- 
ceived from parents. It shows a petty 
spirit to do so, and allows the class to see 
that the teacher is annoyed and worried by 
the remarks of the parents. His dignity 
is lowered, and when his pupils are not in 
his presence they will laugh at nim. It 
is unfair to parents to read their notes or 
part of them before a class. These notes 
are private communications, and as such 
they should be regarded as too sacred for 
public comment. 



CHAPTER II. 



MISTAKES IN DISCIPLINE, 



It is a mistake to try to teach with- 
out having good order. No teacher 
should think of teaching at all, until he has 
established between himself and his class 
a perfect understanding regarding this 
matter; until he has clearly shown his 
pupils that it is necessary that one person 
should be absolutely master, and that he 
is the person entitled to that position by 
virtue of his office, his superior intelli- 
gence, experience, and force of character. 
Without order in his affairs and among 
those he employs, no business man can 
hope to be successful. Without the per- 
fect order called discipline in an army it 
is a disorganized mob, incapable, unman- 
ageable, and at the mercy of its foes. 



46 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

Without order in a school, at least one- 
half a teacher's power is wasted, partly- 
through the inattention of the scholars, 
and partly in reducing the disorder to 
what some teachers regard as endurable 
limits. Experience has proved this, and 
therefore every good teacher insists on 
having good order before attempting to 
teach. " The husband who starts in his 
matrimonial career as lieutenant never 
gets promoted." A teacher is rarely pro- 
moted in a school in which he has not 
earned his position at the close of the first 
day. There is a lamentable weakness 
about a teacher who allows his scholars to 
form the public opinion of his school, and 
establish his character independent of him. 
It is a mistake to confound " securing 
order" with " maintaining order." 
Many teachers forget, when taking charge 
of a new class that they are dealing with 
strangers, on whose sympathy and affec- 
tion they have no claim. They often lose 
control of their pupils on the first day by 
practising the very principles which are 
of highest service in securing the best dis- 



MISTAKES IN DISCIPLINE. 47 

cipline. They appeal to instincts which 
are slumbering, and to motives which, so 
far as they are concerned, have no exis- 
tence. Pupils are at school on the open- 
ing day to study the " new teacher," not 
their lessons, and the more incomprehen- 
sible and non-committal he is the more 
they will respect him. Like their seniors, 
they will regard mysterious silence as pro- 
fundity, and a selt-contained manner as 
indicative of great reserve power. No 
rational teacher should expect to win the 
love of his pupils at first sight. During 
the first few days his great aim should be 
to show them by his actions and manner, 
not by words, that he understands himself, 
his pupils, and their relations to each 
other. To baffle their curiosity in regard 
to himself, is the first step toward secur- 
ing their respect. Beyond this only three 
things are absolutely necessary during the 
first week : — 

1. He must show that he can see every- 
body at all times, and that it is impossible 
to do wrong without being detected. 

2. He must be decided in awarding pun- 



48 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

ishment for an intentional offence. A 
severe whipping promptly and coolly 
given on the first day, may assist materially 
in doing away with corporal punishment. 

3. He must prove that he is master of 
the subjects he has to teach. 

A lady once subdued a rebellious pupil 
by offering him her cane with the request 
that he would whip her. She had pre- 
viously shown him and the whole class in 
a clear and feeling manner that he was 
guilty of a serious offence for which some 
one must be punished. At the right 
moment she surprised him with her strange 
request, and completely overpowered him. 
This was natural, because her pupils were 
young, and she had gained their affection 
by a long course of kindness. The story 
got into the papers, and an ardent youth, 
about to take charge of a class of grown- 
up boys, determined to adopt the young 
lady's plan. He opened school on the 
first morning with a fervid address, full of 
what boys call " taffy," and calmly waited 
for the hour to arrive, when by a single 
exhibition of his generosity he would gain 



MISTAKES IN DISCIPLINE. 49 

permanent sway over their grateful hearts. 
He was confident that his address must 
have made an impression, and that the 
noble boys would appreciate his self-sacri- 
ficing spirit. The hour at length arrived, 
and with due ceremony he called the cul- 
prit before him, spoke to him in most feel- 
ing terms, showed the necessity of punish- 
ment for the offence, stated that rather 
than punish a " dear pupil " he would sub- 
mit to be punished himself, and finally 
presented the delinquent with a bundle of 
rods with the request that he would select 
therefrom the largest and whip his <; dear 
teacher." He turned his back expecting 
to hear cries of penitence, but instead he 
was astounded by shouts of encouragement 
to the obedient pupil, who had faithfully 
carried out instructions, and was now 
wielding the largest rod with judgment 
and power, in which invigorating exercise 
he was quickly joined by as many pupils 
as could get rods from the bundle. Those 
who could not be accomodated pelted 
him with every available missile, and 
finally threw him out, after emptying the 
ink bottles on his head. 



5° MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

Kindness and affection are the strongest 
elements of a teacher's power, but they 
need a stable foundation to rest upon. 

It is a mistake to suppose that 
children like to have their own way at 
school. No greater mistake could be 
made. Children like order better than 
disorder. So would all grown people, if 
they had been properly trained at school. 
Children are most joyous and happy, and 
therefore most thoroughly educated, in 
those schools where the discipline is strict 
without being severe. There is no quicker 
way for a teacher to lose the respect of 
his pupils than by over-indulging them. 

They will not chafe long under just re- 
straint. Control develops reverence. 

It is a mistake to think that order 
means perfect quiet or stillness. Many 

classes are quiet through sheer listlessnes 
or dullness. What is needed in a school 
is the order of life, not the order of death. 
Order means having every child in school 
attending to his own duty, and attending 
to it, of course, in the quietest possible 
manner. So long as no individual in a 



MISTAKES IN DISCIPLINE. 5 I 

school is attending to another's business, 
or doing anything to attract the attention 
of any person else, efficiency should not 
be sacrificed for the sake of silence. A 
good stiff breeze is better than a dead 
calm. The breeze is all right if it does 
not come in squalls. Perfect order may 
be quite in harmony with a considerable 
amount of noise. In a factory, for instance,, 
although the noise of machinery may be 
deafening, and the bustling of the work- 
men may appear quite confusing to an 
outsider, everything is usually in the most 
perfect order. Order does not necessarily 
mean repression. The order needed in 
school is work systematized. This is 
genuine order, the only kind that will 
last. 

It is a mistake to try to startle a 
class into being orderly. Some teachers 
strike the desk ; stamp on the floor; call 
"order, order, order;" or ring the bell to 
cause quietness. A thunder-clap startles 
us into stillness for a few moments, but 
even thunder would soon lose its effect, if 
controlled by some teachers. Disorderly 



5 2 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

pupils should be subdued, not terrified. 
It would be a poor way to calm a nervous 
child by firing cannon near it. A teacher 
must be deliberate, not impulsive and ex- 
plosive. If he wishes to secure good order, 
he must be orderly himself. Attention 
gained by making any sudden noise is 
only of a temporary kind. The noise of the 
pupils yields for a time, but very soon it 
re-asserts itself. To be valuable, attention 
must be fixed. Teachers should, of course, 
never forget that giving fixed, active at- 
tention is an exhaustive exercise, and that 
relaxation in some form — music, free 
gymnastics, or both combined — should be 
given to pupils at frequent intervals. 

It is a mistake for Hie teacher to 
try to drown the noise of bis pupils 
by making a greater noise himself. 

Some teachers attempt to force out dis- 
order by talking in a loud tone, and in a 
high key. They may avoid hearing any 
noise except that made by themselves in 
this way, but they are certain to increase 
the noise made by their pupils. The 
pupils will have to speak louder in order 



MISTAKES IN DISCIPLINE. 53 

to hear each other. A low tone is much 
more certain to produce quietness than a 
high tone. There are certain noises which 
render children nervous and irritable. The 
noise made in filing a saw, and that made 
by a teacher talking in a high key, are two 
of them. 

It is a mistake to call for order in 
general terms, however quietly it 
may be done. Disorder always begins 
with one or two, and no rational teacher 
allows it to proceed until it has spread 
throughout the whole class before stopping 
it. It should be quieted as soon as it com- 
mences. This should be done by a 
meaning look, a question quietly asked, or 
in some natural way that will attract 
the attention of no person but those im- 
mediately concerned. It is enough that 
the disorderly pupil should lose his time, 
without compelling the whole school to 
listen to an absurd method of quieting him. 

It is a mistake to make too many 
rules. Some teachers make so many 
rules, that they cannot remember them 
themselves. Their pupils forget them 



54 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

too, and violate them without intendiug 
any wrong. 

The breaking of the law should be 
a most serious offence. Children will 
not be very good citizens, if they regard 
the violation of laws as a trifling matter. 
They cannot avoid coming to this con- 
clusion, if a teacher has so many rules 
that he forgets to punish for neglecting 
them ; or if they are of so unimportant a 
character, as not to command the respect 
of the pupils. 

There should be few cast iron rules 
beginning with "Thoushalt," or ''Thou 
shalt not." The rule should state general 
principles, and each one should cover a 
whole class of specific acts. 

Rules in detail should not be formulated 
in a code either written or printed. 

No rule should be issued until some 
wrong-doing makes it necessary. The 
very prohibition may suggest the wrong 
course to the pupils. 

Pupils should learn rules as they should 
learn everything else, by experiencing the 
necessity of them, and by putting them in 



MISTAKES IN DISCIPLINE. 55 

practice as they learn them The rules 
that will be best learned and most consist- 
ently obeyed are those that are not spoken 
or written or printed, but regularly acted 
by the pupils under the guidance of a 
wise teacher. 

The pupils should have the reason for 
rules explained to them so far as to enable 
them to see their justness; indeed judicious 
teachers may allow their scholars to assist 
them in framing rules. 

While the teacher should issue as few 
restraining rules as possible to his pupils, 
he must not neglect to define clearly 
their duties towards each other and to the 
school, nor to explain fully the nature 
and results of the offences which they 
commit. 

It is a mistake to foe demonstrative 
in maintaining discipline. Some ma- 
chines make a perpetual jarring noise 
while running. Some schools are disci-^ 
plined in such a way as to make them 
really disorderly. Teachers are often dis- 
orderly in attempting to secure order. 
They may succeed in obtaining a kind of 



$6 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

discipline, but they lose much valuable 
time in getting it; and when secured it 
lacks many of the beneficial influences of 
good discipline in forming the characters 
of the pupils. Visitors at schools will 
frequently hear the teacher cannonading 
their pupils with such orders as these : 
''Take down your hand, sir;" "Turn 
around in your seat, James ; " " Sit up, 
Mary;" "Attention, Susan ;" etc. These 
are commands, and the wise teacher will 
never even make a request when a suggestion 
will accomplish his purpose. There is 
one fact always noticeable in schools in 
which the teacher has to resort continually 
to the above method of controlling his 
class. His work is never done. The 
supply of disorder never runs out. In 
fact he does not notice and check, in most 
cases, one-half the wrong-doing that goes 
on, and at its best the order of the pupils is 
only indifferent. Even if the best of 
order on the part of the class could be 
secured by such means, the disorder of the 
teacher would neutralize its good effects. 
There are classes always in order, whose 
teachers do not seem to be controlling them 



DISCIPLINE. 57 

at all. The teacher is teaching and the 
pupils attending in a quiet and respectful 
manner, when a visitor enters, and he 
leaves after a stay of a couple of hours 
without having heard a single child named 
in connection with the violation of a rule 
of any kind. The teacher was controlling 
the class, but neither class nor visitor was 
painfully conscious of the fact. 

What causes the difference between the 
two classes? Is the noisy, restless, forget- 
ful class to be blamed for its delinquencies ? 
Certainly not. The teacher is responsible 
in. every sense. Let the two teachers ex- 
change classes, and after a couple of 
months the pupils will have altered their 
characteristics. One teacher strives for 
order merely for its own sake, the other 
maintains discipline that he may teach. 
One talks, preaches, and scolds about order, 
and demands it with threats of "imposi- 
tions " or punishments in case of refusal or 
neglect by the pupils; the other secures 
"the silent co-operation of natural laws, 
by good organization, by careful fore- 
thought, and by quiet self-control." 



58 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

It may be said by some, that the power 
ot governing without apparent effort is a 
natural gift, possessed by few, and beyond 
the acquisition of those not so blest by 
nature. Undoubtedly some possess this 
power to a greater extent than others, but 
all may learn the principles that underlie 
good government; and no one should pre- 
sume to teach, until he is able to practise 
those which are essential. 

The methods of securing order on first 
taking charge of a class may vary, as they 
will depend to a considerable extent on 
circumstances, but good discipline can 
only be maintained by the most careful at- 
tention to the physical comfort, the in- 
stincts, and the mental characteristics of 
the children. 

It is a mistake to speak in too high 
a key. Probably no other error increases 
the labor of the teacher and the disorder 
of the class^to so great an extent as this. 
Children soon cease to attend to a teacher 
with a loud voice pitched on a high key. 
It is not surprising that they do so. A 
loud voice soon becomes monotonous, and 



DISCIPLINE. 59 

loses its influence in securing attention 
and order. It has, indeed, a positively in- 
jurious influence on a class in two re- 
spects: 

i. It induces a corresponding loudness 
and harshness of tone on the part of the 
pupils, and leads them to speak and read 
in a forced, unnatural manner. In this 
way their voices lose all their sweetness 
and half their influence. "Loudness," 
says Emerson, "is always rude, quietness 
always gentle." 

2. It produces an irritating effect on 
the nervous systems of children, which 
prevents their being quiet and attentive. 

The voice should be pitched rather below 
than above the natural key, and used with 
only moderate force in the school-room. 
It is then much more impressive than a 
high, loud voice, and infinitely more 
effective in securing good discipline. 
Children will learn much more rapidly too 
if the teacher speaks in a quiet conversa- 
tional tone. 

It must be remembered, however, that 
weakness of voice must not be contounded 



60 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

with good modulation. Weakness of voice 
indicates some corresponding weakness in 
body or character. Proper modulation, 
on the contrary, conveys the impression 
that the speaker thoroughly understands 
himself and his surroundings, and has a 
large amount of reserve force ready for 
any emergency. Decision and sternness are 
not synonymous. 

It is a mistake to try to force chil- 
dren to sit still even for half an hour 
in the same position. It is right to in- 
sist that all the pupils shall sit in a uniform 
position while engaged at the same lesson. 
It is wrong even to allow them to sit for a 
minute in ungraceful, unhealthful posi- 
tions. The teacher cannot be too exacting 
in these particulars, but the same position 
should not be continued too long. This 
is especially true in the case of little chil- 
dren, whose bones are not hardened. The 
muscles will weary of sustaining the weight 
of the body in any position too long, and 
the weight being thrown on the flexible 
bones will bend them out of their proper 
shape. 



DISCIPLINE. 



61 



The judicious teacher will not attempt 
to restrain the restlessness of junior chil- 
dren, but will give it a natural outlet. 
There is no other so good as light calis- 
■thenic exercises, accompanied by singing. 
These are exceedingly interesting to the 
pupil, and give the needed exercise and 
change to the muscles that have been 
wearied in one position. If teachers would 
give their pupils two minutes' restful exer- 
cise before each lesson, or at the close of 
each hour, the pupils would make more 
rapid progress in their studies, and the 
teacher's work in preserving order be great- 
ly lessened. "In the majority of cases 
they break artificial rules in obedience to 
powerful instincts, which the teacher has 
failed to press into service. They are 
largely under the influence of the instinct 
of activity, and unless some safe provision 
be made for satisfying this instinct, they 
will be irresistibly impelled to satisfy it in 
ways of their own. They will fidget when 
they are expected to keep still : they will 
grow weary of being treated as mere pas- 
sive reservoirs into which knowledge is to 
be perpetually pumped, and will seek oc- 



02 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

cupations,mental or bodily,for themselves ; 
and in a variety of ways they will disobey 
the teacher who persists in this unwise 
defiance of natural laws. It is absurd to 
blame them for their disobedience. They 
cannot help it. They did not make them- 
selves, and the laws of their being are only 
partially under their control." 

It is a mistake to allow pupils to 
play in the school-room. There are 
many stormy days, when no reasonable 
teacher would compel his pupils to go 
out at recess. Instead of doing so, it is 
the custom in many schools to allow the 
pupils to have their recess and play in the 
school-room. It is desirable that a recess 
should be given for relaxation from study. 
The hygienic laws relating to both mind 
and body demand frequent rests from 
labor. If they were more frequent in 
schools, and of shorter duration, there 
would be more work, less scolding, and 
better order in them. Relaxation and un- 
restrained play are not synonymous, how- 
ever,nor is the one the natural consequence 
of the other. If children play as they 



DISCIPLINE. 63 

choose in a school-room they are-certain to 
make too much noise, and endanger the 
safety of desks and other school property. 
The worst effect of such a license is the loss 
of proper feelings of respect for the school- 
room. While children should not regard 
the school-room as a place of solitary con- 
finement or look upon the teacher with 
dread, they should feel that there are pro- 
prieties of conduct and manner insepara- 
bly connected with entering the outer 
door of a school building. They should 
never be allowed to play even in the halls 
of a school house. They may be allowed 
to converse,or even move around the room 
in a quiet and regular manner. There is 
no harm, for instance, in pupils of the 
same sex walking in couples around the 
outside walls during the recess, provided 
they all walk in procession in the same 
direction, and with a slow, measured step. 
Pupils may be very properly taught to 
march by the teacher at these times, or 
they may perform calisthentic exercises in 
time with singing. Promiscuous playing 
around the school-room should be prohib- 
ited also on the part of those pupils who 



64 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

wish to stay in at noon, or who arrive too 
early in the morning. It is best,- if possi- 
ble, to have assembly rooms in the base- 
ment of the building, but if these cannot 
be secured one room should be set apart 
for a lunch or assembly room. A teacher 
should always have charge of it, and pupils 
should understand clearly that good behavior 
is the one condition on which they are 
allowed to remain in it. 

It is a mistake to use a bell as a 
Signal lor order. It is purely a time or 
movement signal. Even the occasional ring- 
ing of the bell for order is a mistake. It 
disturbs every pupil, while perhaps only 
two or three are offending, and after a time 
loses its effect, because it speaks directly 
to no one, and gives in general terms to a 
whole class what should be given particu- 
larly to certain individuals. The bell is 
a valuable aid in securing discipline. It 
may be used with great profit instead of 
the teacher's voice, as a signal for com- 
mencing, changing, or closing exercises ; 
or for standing up, sitting down, as- 
sembling, dismissing, etc., but it never 



DISCIPLINE. 65 

should be used to give a direct command 
for order. It should never convey a command 
that does not apply with equal force to each 
member of the school. 

It is a mistake to lose sight of the 
Class. Control asserts itself chiefly 
through the lip, the tongue and the eye. 
They should be used in the inverse order 
to that in which they are named. The 
eye should be the exclusive medium of 
control, so far as possible ; the tongue may 
be called to its aid in cases of emergency ; 
the lip should be used very sparingly. 
The lip expresses firmness, combined 
with scorn or contempt, and these are sure 
to stir up active antagonism, rather than 
submission. A pupil may be, and often is, 
forced to yield without full obedience. 
The eye alone can convey a message of 
power and conciliation at the same time, 
and these are the elements of genuine con- 
trol. 

If a pupil feels that his teacher's eye is 
constantly and quietly taking note of all 
that is going on in his class, he cannot 
fail to be conscious of its controlling 



66 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

power. Unless he is defiant or exceed- 
ingly thoughtless, he will need little more 
than the teacher's untiring eye to restrain 
him. The eye can be cultivated and its 
range of vision greatly widened. Few 
teachers have the power to see and watch 
every pupil in a class of fifty at the same 
instant, but every teacher may acquire the 
ability to do so. It is astonishing to what 
extent clearness of lateral vision may be 
developed without rolling the eyes from 
side to side. The influence of the eyes is 
neutralized by an uneasy nervous move- 
ment or fixed stare. The seeing should 
be done wihout any apparent effort, but 
it should be done, and done unerringly. 
Even when using the blackboard the 
teacher should avoid turning his back to 
his class. 

It is a mistake to be variable in dis- 
cipline. Some teachers are intermittent 
in their exercise of "will power." They 
are fully charged with energy and force 
one day, but seem to have lost connection 
with their character batteries on the next. 
Steady, even, regular, uniform control is 



discipline. 6y 

the kind required. In the school-room 
and in the yard, the teacher's influence 
should be supreme, whether he himself is 
present or absent. He must never be a 
tyrant, he should always be a governor. 

He should carefully study his proper 
social and legal relationship to the pupils, 
their parents, and the school authorities. 
He should stand on a foundation of solid 
rock, and be ready for prompt action in 
cases of emergency. Promptness and de- 
liberation should go hand in hand. 
Promptitude and haste or excitement are 
not synonymous. Hesitation and timidity 
on the part of a teacher, will stir to life 
germs of rebellion which otherwise might 
have been left to die for lack of nutriment. 

While a teacher should always pay due 
respect and attention to the advice of his 
friends, he should never allow either the 
counsel of friends or the opposition of foes 
to make him deviate from the course which, 
he knows to be the right and just one. 
Many men fail because when a wave of 
opposition meets them they feebly yield to 
its power and aimlessly drift with it ; when 



458 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

if they had met it bravely and remained 
•firm it would soon have passed them and 
left them better for its washing. The 
teacher may yield many times with profit 
to his school and himself, if he does it 
gracefully, but he can never do so when 
the question of control is at stake. He 
must then assert his "will power" in a 
•most determined manner, without making 
himself offensive or tyrranical. 

It is a mistake to get excited in 
school. A man opens the gates of his 
strong-hold when he becomes angry. A 
teacher to exercise control must be calm 
and patient. The quality of " will power " 
is of great importance, the quantity of it at 
a teacher's disposal is of far more conse- 
quence. It must wear well. There is a 
dignity and a majesty in the patient asser- 
tion of the right and the ability to control, 
which never fail to command respect. It 
is well, especially when taking charge ot a 
new class, not to try to compel absolute 
order too suddenly. So long as pupils are 
ready to do what the teacher wishes, he 
will, if a reasonable man, overlook slight 






DISCIPLINE. 69 

offences until good conduct has become a 
habit. 

Obedience on any terms is better than 
disobedience, but willing obedience must 
be obtained by the teacher if he wishes to 
benefit his pupils. If " will power " is ex- 
erted in a noisy and violent manner it is 
offensive; if it is of the fussy kind it excites 
ridicule, It must be calm if it would se- 
cure control beneath whose placid surface 
no rebelion lurks in ambush. 

It is a mistake to he satisfied with 
order which lasts only while the 
teacher is present. There are teachers 
who control their pupils merely by the 
exercise of " will power." It is necessary 
to do so sometimes, especially when the 
teacher has lately taken charge of the class, 
The teacher's " will power " should always 
be held in reserve for an emergency, but 
he should control his class by the expen- 
diture of the smallest possible degree of it. 
His engine should not always be running 
at its highest pressure. The pupils have 
powers of self control which require devel- 
opment ; and they need to be trained to 



70 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

do right Irom a sense of duty, not from the 
consciousness of subordination to a supe- 
rior will, or tear of punishment, when the 
teacher is present to detect the wrong. 

Many boys go astray after leaving home, 
because they have been controlled by the 
sweetness of a mother's nature, or the 
strength of a father's will. In either case 
they were not acting on principle in 
doing right, and no element of self-govern- 
ment had been developed in them. Their 
restraining influences were external to 
themselves, hence they were rudderless 
on removing beyond their power. 

The same result is found in many a 
school whose pupils are fairly orderly in 
the presence of the teacher, but uncon- 
trolled when he leaves the room. The 
remedy is to be found in using influences 
external to the pupils as sparingly as 
possible, and developing to the fullest 
extent those which may be awakened in 
the pupil himself. 

It is a mistake to give an order 
without haying it obeyed by all to 
whom it is given. A great deal of dis- 



DISCIPLINE. 71 

order exists in some schools, because the 
teacher, while changing exercises, or 
dismissing his class, does not wait to have 
one order obeyed before giving another. 
Whether the signals be given by word of 
mouth, by numbers, by touching a bell, or 
otherwise, every pupil should have fully 
completed the motion indicated by " one " 
before " two " is given. If any other course 
is adopted, confusion and disorder are in- 
evitable, and the pupils learn to pay little 
attention to the teacher's commands. 

Obedience to an order, and submission 
to a rule may be quite different. The one 
should be prompt and decided, the other 
should be intelligent and voluntary. 

It is a mistake to tivat pupils as 
though they were auxious to violate 
the rules of the school. If a teacher 
does not respect his pupils, they will not 
respect him. Confidence is necessary on 
the part of both teacher and pupils. A 
threat implies that the teacher does not 
trust his pupils, and prevents the class 
having sympathy with him. " It is better 
to assume that your pupils will be eager 



J2 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

to carry out your wishes, and so impose 
upon them the obligation of honor, than to 
take it for granted that the only motive 
which will deter them from disregarding 
your wishes will be the fear of a penalty." 
Blind confidence must, however, be dis- 
tinguished from honest trust in those who 
have not proved unworthy. 

It is a mistake to ridicule a pupil. 

It is wrong to do so for bad conduct^ 
neglect of lessons, or any breach of school 
discipline. The pupil so treated loses to^ 
a certain extent the respect of his class- 
mates, and, what is of more consequence to 
himself, he frequently sinks in his own 
estimation. Sarcasm inflicts a poisoned 
wound which does not heal. No personal, 
or family weakness or peculiarity ought to^ 
be publicly referred to by the teacher. 
Hon. J. P. Wickersham, in his masterly 
work on School Economy, says, " Sarcastic 
remarks, or such names as numskull,, 
block-head, dunce, etc., etc., do not become 
a teacher in speaking either to or of his 
pupils." Do not make a pupil lose his 
own self-respect, or expose him to con- 



DISCIPLINE. 7$ 

temptuous remarks by his companions. 
To ridicule a feeble attempt may prevent 
a stronger effort. 

It is a mistake to punish without 
explanation. Teachers sometimes say, 
" Smith, take a misdemanor mark," or 
" Mary, stay in at recess," or " Brown, 
hold out your hand," etc., without taking 
time to explain why the mark or the pro- 
hibition or the whipping should be given. 
" It would waste too much time; I could do 
very little else in my school," is the jus- 
tification given for such a course. The 
answer given is likely to be correct in 
schools in which such a method of punish- 
ment is adopted. The teacher who adopts 
such a course will soon have sufficient 
reason to conclude from his stand-point 
that explanations would "waste time." 

Punishment is a judicial act, and it 
should be administered judicially. A 
boy has a right to know why he receives 
punishment, before the punishment is in- 
flicted. If the teacher does not take the 
trouble to give him this explanation in a 
perfectly candid manner, he gives the 



74 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

pupil just cause for regarding him as a petty- 
tyrant, who punishes merely for the per- 
sonal gratification it affords him. Punish- 
ment produces good results, not according 
to the amount of pain caused, but in pro- 
portion to the clearness with, which pupils 
see the nature of the offence and the 
justness of the penalty. Pain, by itself, 
causes anger, resentment, and a desire for 
revenge; therefore, no teacher should cause 
pain without taking care to neutralize its 
evil effects. Whipping alone is brutal and 
brutalizing. A pupil who receives such 
treatment naturally grows sullen, and be- 
comes doggedly resentful. He believes that 
his teacher has a dislike to him, and he can- 
not be blamed for coming to this conclu- 
sion. It is the teacher's fault. Parents 
get their impressions of the teacher from 
their children, and so he loses the con- 
fidence of both pupils and parents. There 
is nothing that parents so quickly resent 
as injustice to their children. Whether 
the injustice be real or imaginary is not 
of the slightest consequence so long as the 
impression is made on their minds. The 
teacher's influence is often paralyzed, 



DISCIPLINE. 75 

therefore, by causes which he has himself 
set in motion. He is shorn of more than 
half his power if the parents of his pupils 
lose confidence in his unswerving justice. 
One of the quickest ways to secure the 
distrust of the public is to inflict punish- 
ment of any kind and leave the pupil to 
decide its causes, as well as to suggest 
the teacher's motives. 

It is well to remember that the pupil 
directly concerned is not the only one in- 
terested in punishment. Great care should 
be taken to make the whole class see the 
justice and fairness of punishment before 
administering it. They should not be 
allowed to think that they have a right to 
decide that punishment shall not be given 
by the teacher as he deems proper ; but 
they should be led to understand very 
clearly that the teacher punishes solely 
for the benefit of the individual or the gen- 
eral good, that his decisions are uniform- 
ly and impartially based on equitable 
principles, and that he is always glad to 
state his reasons for awarding punishment 
of any kind. If the class does not approve 



j6 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

of the punishment, evil results are pro- 
duced. 

Punishment inflicted hastily will often 
be unjustly given. It the teacher cannot 
explain satisfactorily the reason for a pun- 
ishment, he should doubt the propriety of 
imposing it. The attempt to state his rea- 
sons may often lead him to modify his 
decisions. Horace Mann says, " I confess 
that I have been amazed and overwhelmed to 
see a teacher spend an hour at the black- 
board explaining arithmetical questions, 
and another hour on the reading or gram- 
mar lesson ; and in the meantime,as though 
it were only some interlude, seize a boy by 
the collar, drag him to the floor, castigate 
him, and remand him to his seat; the 
whole process not occupying two min- 
utes." A certain amount of formality 
should accompany the infliction of pun- 
ishment. 

The marking sheet on which are entered 
the marks for misconduct or imperfect les- 
sons should always be hung near the door, 
so that the pupils in passing may see at a 
glance if any mark has been accidentally 



DISCIPLINE. 77 

or incorrectly placed opposite their names. 
Only in this way can full confidence be 
established in the accuracy of monthly re- 
ports to parents. 

It is a mistake to whip for discipli- 
nary purposes merely. Whipping should 
be used as a reformatory agent only. It is 
better for boys than confinement in jail. 
It should rarely if ever be administered to 
girls. The teacher who resorts to frequent 
whipping as a means of securing disci- 
pline, is either excessively lazy or weak. 
He can have very little tact or will power. 
A city superintendent says, " I find that 
the good order of the classes varies with 
the amount of whipping done, in inverse 
ratio. Much whipping, bad order; little 
whipping, better order; least whipping, 
best order." This will be found to be the, 
experience of all who have given the ques- 
tion a fair trial. There are some who have 
relied solely on whipping for many years, 
and who have, therefore, no other means 
of control but the cane. They and their 
pupils are to be pitied. They were never 
qualified to perform the high duties of 
teachers. 



78 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

It is a mistake to whip pupils in a 
merely formal manner. Some teachers 
hold that the disgrace of receiving punish- 
ment constitutes its chief restraining 
power. This is a grievous error. If the 
opinion were a correct one it would be one 
of the strongest reasons against corporal 
punishment. It is certainly not the teach- 
er's aim to bring disgrace on his pupils. 
Boys laugh at the credulity of a master 
who takes it for granted that they feel in- 
tensely humiliated by whipping. Whip 
rarely but severely. Whip only for serious 
or repeated offences, but let the whipping 
be of such a character that it will not need 
to be repeated often. 

It is a mistake to punish by pulling 
a child's ears, slapping his cheeks, 
etc., etc. Punishment should subdue. 
The horrible idea that the chief object of 
punishment is to cause pain is not ac- 
cepted by modern teachers. The punish- 
ments referred to above always cause 
rebellious feelings, and nothing but the 
comparative weakness of the pupil ever 
prevents his prompt resentment of such an 



DISCIPLINE. 79 

indignity by the personal chastisement of 
the teacher. Such punishments are im- 
proper : 

i. Because they indicate haste, bad 
temper and inhumanity on the part of the 
teacher. 

2. Because they are inflicted without 
any previous explanation of their neces- 
sity and justness to the pupils. Expla- 
nations should precede punishment. 

No teacher should ever torture his 
pupils by pinching, etc., or by compelling 
them to keep the body long in an un- 
natural position. 



CHAPTER III. 



MISTAKES IN METHOD. 



It is a mistake to put questions to 
pupils ill rotation. Many commence at 
the head of the class, facing the pupil there, 
and after putting him through as though 
he were the only pupil in the class, they 
get over number two in a similar manner, 
and so on to the end of the class, if happily 
that part be reached before the time for 
closing the lesson. They can teach but 
one at a time. The class of such a teacher 
should consist ot one little pupil, so that he 
could see the whole of it at once. 

No pupil should ever know who is 
likely to receive a question until it 
has been given. No .name should be 
mentioned, no motion made or look given 
to indicate who is to answer, until the 
question has been asked. Many teachers, 



METHOD. 8 1 

while proposing a question, make the 
mistake of looking steadily at the pupil 
whom they expect to answer it. This 
should be so carefully avoided as to leave 
every pupil completely in the dark as to 
the intentions of the teacher. Each pupil 
should know that he may be asked to 
answer every question. Every one will thus 
be compelled to attend all the time ; while 
if questions are asked in rotation, a pupil, 
alter answering his question, may discuss 
the circus, or the last lacrosse match, or 
the next base ball match, or any other 
appropriate topic that may chance to come 
into his mind, until his turn is coming 
again. It is impossible to maintain good 
order in a natural way by such a method 
of teaching. 

It is a mistake to repeat a question 
for the sake of those who do not hear 
it the first time. To do so is simply an 
extra inducement to the scholars to be 
inattentive. If a pupil knows that your 
question is to be asked once only, he will 
listen to it the first time. If he knows 
that, when you wish him to answer, you 



82 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

will shake him to get his attention,and then 
repeat your question, he will wait for the 
shaking. A pupil deserves more punish- 
ment for not knowing the question than for 
not being able to give the answer. 

It is a mistake to look fixedly at 
the pupil who is reading or answering. 
If there is one pupil who does not need 
watching, he is the one. He is certain to 
be attending to his work. We should at- 
tend to him with the ear, to all others with 
the eye. Many teachers, while teaching a 
reading lesson, divide their attention 
about equally between their book and the 
pupil who is reading. Such teachers 
never have good order or interested classes. 
In reality, neither the book nor the pupil 
reading should need the attention of the 
teacher's eye. 

It is a mistake to he a slave of any 
text-hook. The teacher should under- 
stand principles, not certain statements, or 
rules, or examples. The teacher who 
merely hears recitations of words prepared 
in a text-book has a poor estimate of his 
true function. The pupils should do con- 



METHOD. 83 

siderable independent work in the study 
of their text-books, but the teacher should 
test the results of their study by requiring 
them to make a practical use of it, He should 
not be satisfied with knowing that they 
can use it with their tongues only. The text- 
book can never be a substitute for the 
teacher. 

It is a mistake to assign lessons with- 
out preyiously explaining them. One 
of our most important duties as teachers 
is to teach children how to study, and what to 
study most carefully in connection with 
each lesson. To assign a lesson to a child 
without giving him some idea of its lead- 
ing features — what you will expect him to 
know, or explain or prove next day, and 
how and where he can obtain most light 
on difficult parts, — seems a good deal like 
sending him into a wilderness to fetch some- 
thing he has never seen, and which you have 
not even described to him. 

It is a mistake to assign much home 
work to young children. The youthful 
mind should not be forced to make too 
great or too long continued effort in study 



84 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

If a child's brain is actively employed for 
five or six hours per day in school, it must 
have nearly reached the " fatigue point," 
beyond which mental exertion is positive- 
ly injurious. Physically and mentally it 
is better for the child to have but little 
home study until he reaches the age of 
twelve. Home study at any period should 
consist of work which the child can do 
for himself without the aid of the teacher. 
By doing it at home school time is saved, 
and the pupil is allowed to do his fair 
share of the work of learning. It is of 
vital importance, however, that neither the 
ambition of the teacher nor the vanity of 
the parents should be allowed to dwarf 
the intellects of children by forcing them 
to make too great or too constant mental 
effort while young. There is no doubt 
that the majority of- those who have at- 
tended the average school have had their 
faculties blunted by such a course. Pro- 
fessor Huxley says : " The educational 
abomination of desolation of the present 
day is the stimulation of young people to 
work at high pressure by incessant and 
competitive examinations. Some wise 



METHOD. 8$ 

man fwho probably was not an early riser) 
has said of early risers, in general, that 
they are conceited all the forenoon, and 
stupid all the afternoon. Now, whether 
this is true of early risers in the common 
acceptation of the word, or not, I will not 
pretend to say; but it is too often true of 
the unhappy children who are forced to 
rise too early in their classes. They are 
conceited all the forenoon of life, and 
stupid all its afternoon. The vigor and 
freshness which should have been stored 
up for the purposes of the hard struggle 
for existence in practical life, have been 
washed out of them by precocious mental 
debauchery, — by book-gluttony and les- 
son-bibbing. Their faculties are worn 
out by the strain put upon their callow 
brains, and they are demoralized by worth- 
less, childish triumphs before the real 
work of life begins. I have no compassion 
for sloth, but youth has more need for in- 
tellectual rest than age ; and the cheerful- 
ness, the tenacity of purrose, the power of 
work, which make many a successful man 
what he is, must often be placed to the 
credit, not of his hours of industry, but to 



86 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

that of his hours of idleness, in boyhpod." 
It is a mistake to assign a lesson 
and not afterward test the class 
to see whether it has heen pre- 
pared. To do so is to encourage the 
pupils to neglect their lessons regular- 
ly. The act of assigning a lessson 
should convey to the minds of the 
pupils, without any words to that effect, 
the statement, "I will examine you on this 
portion of work to-morrow, or at our next 
lesson on this subject." Some teachers 
even require written exercises to be 
brought in some subjects, and forget or 
neglect to call for them. Some call for 
them without ever returning them or re- 
porting their corrections in any way. 
These teachers are training their pupils to 
be careless and indifferent, and often dis- 
honest. Thev are also sinning against 
themselves,for they are certain in this way 
to secure the disrespect of their classes. 
Pupils soon detect the weakness of their 
teachers. They love system and definite- 
ness of purpose. They respect a teacher 
who attends to his own duty thoroughly 
and at the right time. They lose confi- 



METHOD. 87 

dence in a teacher who forgets or neglects 
a duty. 

It is a mistake to continue a lesson 
too long in the school room. The atten- 
tion will flag if confined too long to one 
subject. The minds even of adults should 
be rested occasionally while studying. 
Recreation at the end of each hour for 
five minutes will enable the student to 
make more rapid progress than he would 
otherwise make. The rests should come 
more frequently in junior classes. Change 
of work is one way ot securing rest. Some 
lessons may be continued longer than 
others, with profit. Those that exercise 
the memory only, will not retain interest 
so long as those which bring more of the 
faculties into play. 

It is a mistake to think that one 
teaching of a subject will be sufficient. 

It is necessary not only to i^epeat but to 
review. One of the most discouraging 
things in the experience of a young teach- 
er is to find that, a month after 
teaching a subject, his pupils seem 
to remember very little about it. He 



OS MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

may have labored faithfully and skill- 
fully to explain the mystery of frac- 
tions, for instance; he may be proud and 
justly proud of his success ; but if he rests 
satisfied with a fine explanation of the 
subject, he will find to his great disappoint- 
ment that he has been merely writing in 
the sand. He should have regular reviews 
at times marked on his time table, and in 
addition he should briefly review previous 
lessons before beginning a new one in any 
subject. The lesson of yesterday should 
be reviewed before beginning the lesson 
of to-day. It is only by thus repeating and 
reviewing that permanent impressions can 
be made. 

" Repeat " is the most important word 
in the teacher's guide book. " Practice 
makes perfect ; " it is equally true and for a 
similar reason, that repetition makes re- 
membrance. No teacher experiences so 
much difficulty in enabling his pupils to 
comprehend a lesson, as he does in im- 
pressing it upon their memories after it 
has been explained. Memory's track, to be- 
fit for travel, must be well beaten. Mem- 



METHOD. 89 

ory, like a piece of shining metal, shines 
more brightly the more frequently it is 
burnished. 

Explanation affords a teacher the widest 
field for the display of his individuality 
and teaching talent, but the permanency of 
his teaching depends upon persistent rep- 
etition and reviewing. The old lady's rule 
for sweetening rhubarb: "Put in as 
much sugar as your conscience will 
allow you, and then shut your eyes 
and throw in a handful more," if slightly 
changed may be taken as a guide to teach- 
ers. We must repeat and review, and 
review and repeat until it seems absurd 
to repeat any longer, and then experience 
will show us the necessity for repeating 
and reviewing again. 

It is a mistake to be satisfied with 
repetition at the time of teaching. 
Some teachers repeat and have their classes 
repeat the facts taught while teaching 
them, and rest contented with this. This- 
repetition is frequently carried to such an 
extent as to weary the pupils and make 
teaching a " mechanical grind of words."' 



90 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

It is moreover the least effective kind of 
repetition. It is merely applying a second 
coat of paint before the first has dried. 
The repetition that teaches is that in which 
the mind retraces its steps, and familiarizes 
itself with what it has passed over. True 
reviewing does not mean a tedious "wag- 
ging of the tongue." 

It is a mistake to suppose that de- 
tecting errors is equivalent to correct- 
ing them. Many teachers simply test the 
ability of their pupils to answer certain 
questions relating to the subject in hand. 
They ask the questions, and if they are 
missed, they mark the result on the delin- 
quent pupils themselves, or in the conduct 
.and work register. Sometimes both 
methods of marking- are adopted. The. 
teacher seems to think that his whole duty 
is performed when he has wisely shaken 
ihis head and said "next," or "wrong," or 
passed the question to some other pupil. 
It is not enough to show the pupil that he 
does not know the answer or understand 
the subject. 

To say, as a teacher once did to a boy, 



METHOD. 91 

"You don't know nuthin' " is not a very 
good educative process. To show a 
pupil that he does not know a thing 
is often a necessary part of the teacher's 
duty, but it is never his whole duty. 
He must make the pupil correct his error 
by some method. If possible the pupil 
who makes the mistake should be led to 
see his own error, and to think out the 
correct solution of the difficulty himself, 
or find the answer in his text book by 
study. The more independent the pupil 
can be of the teacher in this respect the 
better. Indeed, the teacher's whole duty 
may be said to consist in aiding his pupils 
to become independent men and women, 
capable of grasping the problems of life, 
and of solving them in a proper manner. 
He can best do this by making them cor- 
rect their own errors themselves. How- 
ever, the errors must be corrected, whatever 
be the method of doing so. The teacher 
is not a mere machine for testing the ac- 
curacy of answers, applying appropriate^?^ 
punishments, and marking results. If one 
or two or more pupils miss in answering, 



92 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

they should each repeat the right answer 
before another question is asked. 

It is a mistake to be satisfied with 
one correction of an error. The teacher 
should repeat and re-repeat the questions 
that have been missed. He should not, of 
course, repeat a question several times in 
succession. Time will not admit of con- 
secutive repetition by the same individual. 
If several members of a class have failed 
to answer a question properly, it is quite 
right occasionally to have the answer 
given in rapid succession a few times by 
the class simultaneously. When an error 
has been made and corrected by the pupil 
who made it, the same question should be 
given again to him a few mimates after- 
wards. Impressions are rooted, and errors 
eradicated [by repetition. Whenever it is 
possible, as in spelling, composition, etc., 
for the pupil to make a list of the mistakes 
he makes, he should be required to do so. 
These lists should be used frequently in 
drills. The best spelling book a pupil 
can have, is a list of the words he has 
spelled inaccurately. The best pro- 



METHOD. 93 

nouncing dictionary he can have, is a list 
of the words he has mispronounced in 
reading or in conversation with his teacher. 

It is a mistake to try to teach too 
many points in a single lesson. Many 
teachers seem to think that their ability 
as teachers is to be measured by the extent 
of ground which they can cover in a les- 
son. They reckon the progress of their 
scholars by the number of pages passed 
over. They measure the amount of their 
mathematical knowledge by the square 
yard. They forget that the pupils them- 
selves have any part in the work of learn- 
ing. The teacher gives information, the 
pupil receives it. The result of teaching 
depends much more on the receiving than 
the giving. It is measured, not by what 
the pupils hear, but by what they carry 
with them from the class-room, and apply 
in future life. 

The facts stated by the teacher or drawn 
by him from the pupils should be repeated 
simultaneously by the class, and drilled 
upon persistently by the teacher, while the 
lesson is in progress. " Questioning in " is 



94 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

the grandest method of the trained and 
cultured teacher in teaching new facts or 
thoughts; "questioning out " is the only- 
certain way of fastening them firmly in 
the mind. Drill when about three facts 
have been communicated, however simple 
they may be ; then give three additional 
facts and drill over the six, and so on to 
the close of the lesson. This repetition 
drill should be more thorough toward the 
close of the lesson. It should be varied as 
much as possible. The answering should 
be partly simultaneous and partly individ- 
ual, and always brisk and lively. 

It is a mistake to be indefinite in 
teaching. In teaching map geography 
for instance, many teachers place the poin- 
ter on the map in a sort of hap-hazard 
manner, when indicating the position of a 
place. The point, and the point only, 
should be held firmly at the spot where the 
place is situated. If this be not done, the 
knowledge given will be inaccurate, and 
habits of carelessness and superficial study 
will be formed by the pupils. One of the 
most important lessons we can teach in 



METHOD. 9^ 

school is thoroughness. Knowledge is 
valuable only when it is reliable. Be 
accurate first, even if you have to make 
apparently slow progres. Be sure that 
one idea is clearly understood and im- 
pressed before you proceed with another. 
Avoid ambiguous expressions. Correct 
them when used by your pupils either 
orally or in their composition. 

It is a mistake to devote attention 
chiefly to the smart pupils in a class. 
Too often the teacher neglects the duller 
pupils in order to sweep triumphantly on 
with those who are more brilliant. The 
temptation to do so is great, even without 
the additional stimulus given by compari- 
son of results of test examinations. Such 
a course is manifestly unfair, however, as 
the teacher is aiding those who least re- 
quire assistance, and neglecting those who 
most need help. Archibishop Whately 
relates that " a certain gardener always 
outstripped his competitors by taking the 
highest prizes for gooseberries. Time 
after time he had been successful. The 
reason of his success was a secret which 



96 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

his rivals determined to learn. They 
accordingly watched him from an ambush 
and found that he carefully stripped his 
best bushes early in the season of all but a 
few of their largest berries. He thus ob- 
tained berries of a very great size ; but he 
only raised a few quarts from bushes which 
would have produced a large quantity ot 
berries." Teachers should remember that 
they should aim to give to all their pupils 
the highest and best culture possible to 
them under the circumstances in which 
they are placed, and not merely to devel- 
op a few " prize gooseberries," 

It is a mistake to give information 
to young children whih they cannot 
use at OIICC This is not the way in which 
they learned before they went to school, 
and they learned more rapidly then, and 
remembered what they learned better, 
than they ever do afterwards. They ac- 
quired knowledge by contact with things, 
and they used the knowledge gained at once. 
When the pupil can give the sound of two 
letters he should form and name the words 
that can be made with them. Another let- 



METHOD. 97 

ter should then be sounded, and several new 
words can be formed by combining the 
three leetters, and so on. Even if the fos- 
silized hl alphabetical " method is used, it is 
absurd to keep the child droning at the 
twenty-six letters when long sentences 
might be prepared by using only a few of 
them. Whatever method of teaching 
word recognition be used, pupils should read 
a line as soon as they can name the words 
it contains. Most teachers are contented 
with word naming throughout the whole 
of the first reading book. This is a mis- 
take ; word naming is not reading. Pupils 
should not be compelled to go through the 
drudgery of learning the whole of the 
tables in arithmetic before they put a 
part of them in practice. They should 
apply the simpler portions of the addition 
and multiplication tables for instance, 
before completing the whole tables. The 
teacher must of course carefully avoid any 
work involving a knowledge of the tables 
beyond the pupils' acquirements. Pupils 
are frequently compelled to count their 
fingers by the thoughtlessness of teachers 
who scold them for it. 



9S MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

It is a mistake to use objects in re- 
viewing or drilling. Objects should be 
used in giving the ideas at first, but not in 
repeating afterwards. The pupils should 
deal with the abstractions as soon as they 
have been clearly conceived by the aid of 
the real things. In addition for instance, 
it is necessary that the child should learn 
the sum of seven and nine first by means 
of balls, or beans, or some objects, but 
having clearly learned the fact that seven 
things added to nine things of the same 
kind make sixteen things, he should only 
add the numbers 9 and 7 in future. The 
objects enable a teacher to communicate 
a lesson more easily than he could do 
without them, but once the lesson has been 
learned the objects are only fetters which 
prevent the freest development of the 
mind. 

It is a mistake to accept partial 
answers. It is well to insist that pupils 
should give their answers in the form of 
complete sentences. The best language 
lessons are the practical lessons given in 
oral composition in the general work of 



METHOD. 99 

the school-room. Good speaking is not 
taught by rales but by correcting the 
errors made in conversation, errors in pro- 
nunciation as well as in grammar. The 
pupils should express their ideas, therefore,, 
at all times in the form of complete sen- 
tences, to accustom them to the formation 
of sentences which accurately express 
their thoughts. This will give the teacher 
his best opportunity for removing errors. 

Questions whose answers can be given 
by a single name or date need not be 
answered as above directed. 

Give the date of the battle of Hastings. 

The date of the battle of Hastings is 
ro66 A. D. 

Name the commander of the British 
forces at Waterloo. 

Wellington was the commander of the 
British forces at Waterloo. 

To answer these and similar questions 
in complete sentences is a waste of time, 
without compensation in the way of de- 
velopment. 

The rule that should guide the teacher 
in this matter is : whenever the answer 



ICO MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

expresses a thought of the pupil, it should 
be expressed in his own language in the 
form of a sentence. Mere repetition of 
the question with the addition of a word 
or a date is of little benefit. 

It is a mistake to repeat every 
answer. Teachers often acquire the 
habit of repeating an answer insensibly as 
it is given by a pupil. This is simply a 
waste of time. Indeed, this method of 
killing time is resorted to by many design - 
edly. They repeat the answer to one 
question while preparing to ask another, 
This should not be necessary. The 
teacher's questions should be ready, or 
the answering will be slow and the at- 
tention unsettled. Occasionally it may 
be wise to repeat the answer in order to 
impress it on the minds of the other mem- 
bers of the class, or to emphasize some 
essential part. 

It is a mistake to have a stereotyped 
plan of presenting a subject. It is 

necessary to successful teaching that the 
teacher should prepare his lessons, not his 
subjects merely, carefully beforehand, 



METHOD. IOI 

He should also arrange the general plan 
of his lesson. This will prevent his 
wandering while teaching. His plan 
should be elastic, however, so as to allow 
him to adapt it to the circumstances that 
may arise, or the questions that may be 
asked while teaching. The bones of the 
plan should not be seen. The more 
variety the teacher can give to the method 
of presenting a subject the greater will be 
the interest taken in it by the pupils. 

It is a mistake to talk too much 
while teaching. Some teachers are very 
fond of " airing their knowledge of the 
lesson." If a teacher talks a great deal he 
is either too diffuse in the treatment of 
his subject, or he offers his pupils more 
thought than they can properly digest. It 
is not possible for a class to attend hour 
after hour and day after day to a teacher 
who gives them no share in the work of 
learning but as listeners. He is the best 
teacher who can stimulate his pupils with 
fewest words to greatest mental activity 
and interest in their lessons. Most of the 
talking should be done by the pupils as 



102 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

guided or led by the teacher. If the teacher 
talks too much he wearies himself as well 
as his class. Let the talking be reduced 
to the minimum, and the working in- 
creased to the maximum extent possible. 

It is a mistake to use too many long 
words in teaching. Great thoughts are 
best expressed in simple language. Those 
who teach children must use plain, familiar 
words or they will be misunderstood. All 
teachers are liable to forget the change 
that has taken place in their own mental 
development since they were children. 
The minds of pupils are frequently con- 
fused because their teachers take it for 
granted that they understand the meaning 
of words with whose use they are unac- 
quainted. 

The teacher should be as correct a model 
as possible in his language. It should be 
simple, carefully chosen, appropriate, and 
accurate as regards pronunciation and 
grammatical construction. 

It is a mistake to give words before 
ideas. Many teachers and parents object 
to the use of such words as "parallelogram, 



METHOD. IO3 

triangle, peninsula,'" etc., by young child- 
ren, on the plea that they are beyond their 
comprehension. That depends on how 
the child has been taught. If it has 
learned what a triangle is by actually 
handling triangles, and becomes familiar 
with their distinguishing characteristics 
by using them, then it will use the word 
■" triangle " as intelligently as the word 
"chair." The child five years of age uses 
many words in its ordinary conversation, 
which are in themselves more diffcult to 
spell and utter than those above named. 
The name of a thing is always a matter of 
secondary importance to a child. What the 
thing is or does is of supremest interest to 
it. It this can be learned, and especially it 
it can be learned practically, the name 
will give no trouble either to the memory 
or to the vocal organs. Without the idea, 
the name is a mere sound with no educa- 
tive power. 

It is a mistake to try to make diffi- 
culties too simple. The duty of a teach- 
er in teaching is held by some to 'consist 
in simplicity of explanation. The teacher 



104 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

is to make mild and sweetened decoctions 
of knowledge, and give them in homoe- 
opathic doses to the pupils. When the 
scholars meet with any rocks in their 
pathway, he is to remove them. Instead 
of allowing them to climb the hill of 
knowledge, he is told to level the hill and 
even make a good road across the plain 
for their accommodation. The teachers who 
act on this principle necessarily dwarf the 
minds of their pupils. 

The teacher should aim : 

i. To make the pupils^/ over difficul- 
ties themselves. 

2. To present the difficulties of a sub- 
ject in their proper order, in a series of nat- 
ural steps. 

3. To graduate the steps to suit the ages 
and advancement of the classes. They 
should be very small indeed at first. 

4. To avoid giving explanation as far as 
possible. Explain the nature of the ma- 
terials for thought which are presented in 
the text books or in other ways; do not do 
the thinking for the pupils. 

5. When explanation is necessary it 
should be clear, definite and brief, 



METHOD. 105 

It is a mistake to neglect any oppor- 
tunity for making the pupils do as 
much as possible in learning. One of 

the fundamental principles of Froebel's 
system of education is, children learn by 
doing. " Children in the Kindergarten learn 
to observe, because they are constantly trying 
to reproduce." They learn the character- 
istics and relations of things by actually 
handling them. They cannot, therefore, 
learn superficially, and superficial teach- 
ing in the public schools afterwards will 
never satisfy them. 

The eye has been lauded to such an ex- 
tent as a means of education, that many 
teachers have received very erroneous 
ideas in regard to its true function. "We 
learn through the eye," " cultivate the eye," 
" teach pupils to observe," &c, &c, are 
rules which have been given forth as sum- 
maries of the whole art of teaching. The 
eye is by far the most important of all the 
senses, from an educational standpoint,but 
it must be remembered that the senses at best 
are merely servants of the mind. They con- 
vey impressions to the brain, but the accu- 
8 



106 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

racy, the intensity, and the permanency of 
these impressions depend upon the brain 
itself. The senses do not mould thought; 
they supply the materials from which 
thoughts are formed. They carry to the 
brain an infinite number of impressions to 
which it pays little or no attention. Unless 
the mind assumes a receptive attitude, 
thought is not developed at all, and even if 
thoughts are formed in the mind, they do not 
remain there unless they are used. To require 
pupils to learn by doing is the only method 
which absolutely demands the fulfilment of 
all the conditions necessary to secure clear- 
ness and permanency of thought. The 
attention is thus fixed, and the brain does 
not merely receive impressions but moulds 
them into thoughts which it uses at once 
in performing the work. Knowledge 
should be not only acquired but applied, 
and whenever possible applied through 
the instrumentality of the hands with nat- 
ural things. 

At one time the teacher of chemistry 
was satisfied with learned statements of 
the facts of his subject, accompanied with 



METHOD. IO7 

blackboard illustrations. Then actual 
experiments were performed in the pres- 
ence of the class to illustrate and confirm 
the teaching. A still further step was 
made when the experiments preceded the 
explanation, and the pupils were required 
to notice and account for the results. 
Now, however, the teacher who wishes to 
make definite and lasting impressions, 
requires each student to perform the experi- 
ments for himself . It is only by doing this,and 
by frequently repeating the same experiment 
that the chemical theories will maintain 
themselves in the student's mind, in compe- 
tition with the vast accumulation of 
thoughts which are forced into it .in prac- 
tical life. 

Botany is not now regarded as taught 
unless the student actually handles typical 
specimens. 

A student may look for years at a map 
without getting a definite idea of the re- 
lations of the various parts of the coun- 
tries outlined on it. For this as well as 
other reasons good teachers now depend 
mainly on map-sketching as a means of 



T08 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

teaching geography. They do not simply 
draw a map themselves on the black-board, 
but every pupil sketches the map for him- 
self as the teaching progresses, and part 
by part is added to the map. If the pupils 
cut the forms of countries in paper or 
make them in any other way, they will find 
that one effort of this kind will make more 
lasting impressions than a dozen repeti- 
tions. It is an excellent plan to have a 
broad shallow box with sand or moulder's 
earth in it, so that the beginners in geog- 
raphy may actually shape for themselves 
the various divisions of land in learning 
the definitions. Continents may also be 
formed in this way with their mountain 
ranges, valleys, peninsulas, capes, etc. 
Wooden blocks may be used to represent 
cities. If the bottom of the box is painted 
blue it will serve to represent water. The 
principle of learning by doing is recognized 
by most teachers in teaching some subjects. 
In writing, drawing, reading, and the 
mathematical subjects, the pupils are 
allowed to perform their fair share of the 
work. No teacher is satisfied with merely 
giving them the necessary ideas. They 



METHOD. 10 9 

put the theories into practice at once. 
This should be done to the fullest extent 
possible in teaching all subjects. 

It is a mistake to tell pupils anything 
they should know or can be led to find 
out by judicious teaching. This is the 
Teacher's Golden Rule. If only this 
one rule was carried out, the teaching, in 
most schools would be revolutionized. 
Young teachers should repeat it every 
morning on their way to school, and ask 
themselves every evening wherein they 
have violated it. It will form a pruning 
hook to cut away most of the errors in 
method, if it is intelligently used. 

Telling is not teaching. Lecturing or 
sermonizing is not teaching. The teacher 
should lead or guide his pupils through 
the garden of knowledge, and show them 
which kinds of fruit are beneficial and 
which injurious; he should also show 
them the best means of obtaining the fruit, 
but he should not pluck it for them, and 
eat it for them, and digest it for them. He 
should teach his scholars how to think : he 
should not do the thinking for them. 



110 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

This will make them develop, byj giving 
their mental activity the work for which 
it so ardently longs. 

Professor Tyndall says: "Looking 
backward from my present stand-point 
over the earnest past, a boyhood fond of 
play and physical action, but averse to 
school-work, lies before me. The aversion 
did not arise from intellectual apathy or 
want of appetite for knowledge, but mainly 
from the fact that my earliest teachers 
lacked the power of imparting vitality to 
what they taught." 

No wonder that little fellows with so 
many germs of life and power in them 
waiting to be stirred into activity and 
vigor, should have an aversion to attend 
such a school. If a teacher is not ac- 
quainted with the wonderful nature of the 
mind he has to develop, and the natural 
order of the growth of its faculties, he 
should be very tolerant of truancy. The 
temptation to play "hookey" may some- 
times come from imprisoned faculties 
protesting against their most unjust neg- 
lect. Certain it is that, independent of 



METHOD. Ill 

the most evil effects resulting from known 
disobedience, a boy would learn more in 
the fields and woods with the flowers and 
birds, than in many a school. 

Sir William Hamilton says, "The pri- 
mary principle of education is the determi- 
nation of the pupil to self-activity — the 
doing nothing for him which he is able to 
do for himself." 

Herbert Spencer says, " In education 
the process of self-development should be 
encouraged to the fullest extent. Child- 
ren should be led to make their own 
investigations and to draw their own 
inferences. They should be told as little 
as possible, and induced to discover &s much 
as possible. Self-evolution guarantees a 
vividness and permanency of impression 
which the usual methods can never pro- 
duce. Any piece of knowledge which 
the pupil has himself acquired, any 
problem which he has himself solved, 
becomes by virtue of the conquest much 
more thoroughly his than it could else be. 
The preliminary activity of mind which 
his success implies, the concentration of 



112 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

thought necessary to it, and the excite- 
ment consequent on his triumph conspire 
to register all the facts in his memory in 
a way that no mere information heard 
from a teacher or read in a school book, 
can be registered. Even if he fail the 
tension to which his faculties have been 
wound up, insures his remembrance of the 
solution when given to him, better than 
half a dozen repetitions would. Observe 
again, that this discipline necessitates a 
continuous organization of the knowledge 
he acquires. It is in the very nature of facts 
and inferences, assimilated in this normal 
manner, that they successively become the 
premises of further conclusions — the 
means of solving still lurther questions. 
The solution ot yesterday's problem helps 
the pupil in mastering to-day's. Thus 
knowledge is turned into a faculty as soon 
as it is taken in, and forthwith aids in the 
general function of thinking — does not lie 
merely written in the pages of an internal 
library, as when rote learnt." 

Fellenberg held, " That the individual, 
independent activity of the pupil is of 



METHOD. 113 

much greater importance than the ordinary 
busy officiousness of many who assume 
the office of educators." 

Rosenkranz says, ''Mind is essentially 
self-activity. Mind lets nothing act upon 
it unless it has rendered itself receptive 
to it." 

Horace Mann wrote, " Unfortunately 
education amongst us at present consists 
too much in telling, not in training." 

Let the pupils have a chance to enjoy 
the pleasure of discovering for themselves 
and school will be to them not a prison, 
but a temple of joy. How children delight 
in overcoming a difficulty ! How much 
greater is their satisfaction when they 
overcome it without aid from the teacher ! 
The honor is then entirely their own. 
What a difference there is, too, in the re- 
mits of teaching, when the pupil is allowed 
to do his own share of the work ! If an 
infant were always carried in arms, 
it would never learn to walk. Each little 
effort it makes for itself gives new power 
and vigor to its muscles. So the child 
that is lifted over every obstacle by 



114 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

the strong mental arm ot its teacher 
will become mentally crippled, and depen- 
dent upon others. It will lean if it is 
trained to do so; and when it has to go 
forth into the world without its teacher 
for a helper, it will be unable to surmount 
the difficulties in its path. A pupil can 
never forget a fact learned practically, as 
the result of his own investigation. One 
boy learns by actually mixing yellow and 
blue colors that they form green, and dis- 
covers the effects of all the primary colors 
in forming secondary colors. Another is 
to/</ the results of the combinations of the 
primary colors. He may even have these 
results exhibited by means of the most 
ingenious and elaborately colored charts. 
The results in the two cases will be vastly 
different. The second boy, ten years after 
leaving school, may remember, after a pro- 
cess of thought, that red and blue produce 
purple. The first does not need to go 
through any processs of reasoning. He is 
not conscious of an effort in remembering. 
He knows it as he knows his name; that 
he has two hands, ten toes, etc.; that the 
weather is cold in winter; or as he knows 



METHOD. 115 

any of a thousand and one facts which he 
has learned for himself practically. 

There is more unnecessary telling done 
in teaching arithmetic than any other sub- 
ject. Long, hard, unmeaning rules are 
memorized, often without even being ex- 
plained by the teacher. The pupil is told 
to multiply at a certain time by a certain 
number, and then divide by something else, 
and so on, and he will get the answer. 
The class reaches a new exercise, say ad- 
dition of fractions, and the teacher pro- 
ceeds to show them 'how to do the work. 
He writes on the blackboard f+&, and 
says, frequently with his back to the 
class, " Now the L. C, M. of 8 and 12 is 24. 
8 into 24 goes 3 times ; t>^7 = ^- I2 i nt0 
24 goes twice; 2X5=^. Then fi+M= 
fi=lsrr. How many think they can do 
another like that ? " And an example is 
given them on which they experiment. 
This is not an exaggerated specimen. The 
teacher does all. No use is made of the 
knowledge already possessed by the pupils. 
They are not asked whether the things to 
be added have the same name or not,. 



Il6 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

whether they can add numbers of different 
denominations or not, so as to show the 
necessity for reducing the fraction to a 
common denominator How easy it would 
be to ask the pupils to add £6 and 4s , to 
lead them to see that before adding them 
together they would have to be changed to 
the same name. How natural then to 
make the step from pounds and shillings to 
eighths and twelfths. This point having 
been reached by the class without any 
telling by the teacher, why should he do the 
work of reducing to a common denomina- 
tor? The pupils can do this before they 
reach addition. Having done the reduc- 
tion and obtained % \ -\ \% they should be 
told to add the two. No doubt more than 
half the class will obtain fi as the answer. 
How can they be led to see their error? 
Will it not do for the teacher to say " We 
never add the denominators ? " Certainly 
not. Perhaps the best way to prevent such 
a mistake is to ask the class to write down 
li in some other way. After a little 
thought one at least will suggest 21 twenty- 
fourths. This fact clearly understood, that 
the denominator is merely the name, and 



METHOD. 117 

that it can be written in letters as well as 
figures, one-half the difficulty in teaching 
fractions is removed Having got this 
from the class, the example should 
be written down thus on the board : 
21 twenty -fourths , ., , , , 

.0 twenty- fourths and another P laced be " 

side it, such as 21 \\f s Then ask the 
10 apples. 

class, if they would add the letters in the 
names of the things to be added ? The re- 
sult will be gratifying. The class will not 
add navies again. 

To reduce a mixed number to an im- 
proper fraction the pupils are told to " mul- 
tiply the whole number by the denomina- 
tor and add in the numerator, and under 
the result place the denominator." When 
they can repeat this to them meaningless 
sentence, the teacher places an example 
on the board, and, without even question- 
ing his cla.ss to make them apply the rule 
they have learned, he proceeds to " do " 
it. He says, 8f ; 8 X 7 = 56+ 3 = 59 ; now 
put 7 under the 59 and we get the answer 
V. Why not let the class see that they 



Il8 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

are merely to work a simple example in 
reduction descending, the principles of 
which they learned long ago? To do so 
is only necessary to write down an exam- 

Wholes. Sevenths. 

pie thus: 8 . 3 . It is then exactly 

lbs. oz. 

similar to reducing 8 . 3 to ounces. 
The method of solution can then be drawn 
from the class, as well as the reason for put- 
ting the denominator under the answer. 
Writing 7 under 59 is merely an abbrevia- 
tion to save writing " sevenths " after it. 

Subtraction of mixed numbers, should in 
a similar way be explained to the classs to 
be a form of compound subtraction. 

In reduction of denominate tractions 
the rules and telling are even worse than in 
any of the cases mentioned. When it is 
necessary to reduce f of a £ to the frac- 
tion of a farthing, instead of giving a long 
rule absolutely without any living mean- 
ing to a child, why not say, If you had 
three pounds to reduce to farthings, what 
would you first do ? " Multiply by 20 to 
reduce the pounds to shillings." Then do 
the same with fractions as with whole 



METHOD. 119 

numbers. Multiply first by 20. But ' 
which shall we multiply, the 3 or the 7 ? 
What is the 7 ? "The name of the fraction." 
Would you multiply the name? " No, not 
the name, but the number." Reduction 
descending in fractions will require no 
further explanation, and no rule need be 
given other than the rule given in dealing 
with whole numbers. 

In reduction ascending a similar course 
may be adopted. Get the pupils to make 
the rule for fractions by basing it on the 
rule already taught for whole numbers. 
For example reduce f of a farthing to the 
fraction of a pound. What would you 
first do if this was a whole number ? 
" Divide by 4." What part of a number 
do you take when you divide by 4 ? " The 
one-fourth." If we take the £ of a number 
then, what do we really do to it ? " We di- 
vide it by 4." Then if I take £ of f do I di- 
vide it by 4?" "Yes." Let us indicate 
the work and we have £ of f. To divide 
this by 12, we take T ^ of it, and so on. 
When all the work is indicated, we have a 
compound fraction, which the pupils of 



120 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

course already know how to reduce to a 
simple one. 

These few examples in tractions have 
been selected because it is in this subject 
that many teachers do their most meaning- 
less teaching. Similar errors are commit- 
ted all through the arithmetic. The 
pupils are told that 16 ozs. make a lb., in- 
stead of being set to work to find out the 
tact for themselves with a pair of scales. 
They are informed that 12 inches make one 
foot, etc., instead of being compelled to 
discover for themselves, by actual exami- 
nation and comparison of the measures, 
the relations of the various lengths to each 
other. The " compound rules " and re- 
ductions are unfathomable mysteries to 
most children, because they are told to 
follow certain formal rules, instead of 
being allowed first to perform the various 
operations with actual money, or measures, 
and then to do mentally or on the slate 
the work which they have been doing with 
the real things. 

It may be well to caution the teacher 
against the idea that he has nothing to do 



METHOD. 121 

but remain an idle observer when pupils 
are making their discoveries. They must 
not be left to their own ingenuity in 
making experiments to arrive at certain 
conclusions. The teacher must be the 
guide, and the source from which infor- 
mation should mainly flow. He should 
not make them mere receptacles for infor- 
mation, however, he should see to it that 
each fact is used as it is received. 



. CHAPTER IV. 



MISTAKES IN MANNER. 



It is a mistake to scold. To do so 

merely irritates a class at first, and excites 
their ridicule and contempt afterwards. 
No person tells the exact truth when he 
scolds ; and it is a bad thing for a teacher 
to get ^credit for making unjust accusa- 
tion, or saying what he does not really 
mean. 

It is a mistake to threaten. Penalties 
should be learned practically. If a teacher 
makes threats that a certain punishment 
shall follow- the doing of certain things, 
he robs himself of one of the highest pre- 
rogatives — the power of adjusting punish- 
ment to the peculiar circumstances of each 
individual case. The very making of a 
threat erects a barrier between the teacher 
and his class which prevents sympathy 



MANNER. 123 

between them. It clearly implies that he 
doubts their honesty and purpose. 

It is a mistake to grumble. Pupils 
may occasionally deserve censure. Their 
intentional faults should always be cor- 
rected and the errors resulting from acci- 
dent or inexperience should always be 
clearly and fearlessly pointed out. They 
will not improve either in lessons or con- 
duet so long as they are not shown to be 
defective in these respects. Grumbling 
is, however, quite a different matter. Com- 
plaining soon becomes a habit, and when 
done mechanically it loses its effect. Mar- 
tin Luther says, " I blame those teachers 
who make of their schools a place of tor- 
ture and misery, and never cease to blame 
their pupils instead of instructing them." 

It is a mistake to be hasty. He who 

loses control of himself loses at the same 
time the power to control others. The 
man of calm, even temper, who holds his 
head erect, walks' in a dignified manner, 
looks unembarrassed, and speaks deliber- 
ately, rarely has any trouble in managing 
a school. The confident man is ever cool. 



124 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

" Excitability and haste weaken the teach- 
er's influence ; impair the accuracy of 
his judgment ; complicate his administra- 
tion of discipline; occasion positive 'in- 
justice ; and stimulate and strengthen 
both by example and direct collision the 
fierce passions of the pupils." 

It is a mistake to show lack of ani- 
mation or enthusiasm. Lifeless teach- 
ing does not secure attention or stimulate 
mental activity. The pupils will insensi- 
bly grow like the teacher. The men and 
women who accomplish great good are 
those who have energy and enthusiasm. 
Let the teacher be in earnest; let him 
show that he believes what be does to be 
worth doing well. The " unconscious 
tuition " of good teachers is often the best 
gift they give their pupils. 

The teacher must not mistake a noisy, 
fussy, demonstrative manner for enthu- 
siasm. Enthusiasm is earnestness without 
undue excitement. 

It is a mistake to he cold and formal. 

No teacher can succeed without the sym- 
pathy of his class. To secure this the teach- 



MANNER. 125 

er must be ever genial and cheerful, as 
well as straightforward. The sunshine of 
a teacher's face, and the " song-shine " of 
his tone and words, can penetrate the 
darkest recesses of a child's nature, and 
they often develop germs of power and 
beauty of character which would have 
died for lack of nourishment or grown to 
be but sickly plants in the darkness. The 
winds of censure, scolding and grumbling, 
and the barren hills of formality and indif- 
ference, only serve to make the timid na- 
ture of the child shrink and hide. Kind- 
ness in word and manner, a genuine 
interest in the thoughts, feelings and 
circumstances of a child, and the warmth 
of an affectionate nature, will bring out 
the tender buds of sweetness of temper and 
purity of heart, and make them grow into 
the most beautiful flowers of a noble char- 
acter, A genial manner will enable the 
teacher to deal with the thousand petty 
annoyances of the school-room, without 
allowing them to develop into great diffi- 
culties. 

It is a mistake to assume to be im- 
maculate. The teacher ought to know 



126 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

all that his circumstances will permit in 
relation to the subjects he has to teach. He 
ought also to study the subjects related to 
them, so that he may not have to show his 
lack of general knowledge too frequently. 
He is lacking in common sense, however, 
if he professes to be an encyclopedia. A 
mere storehouse for knowledge is of 
little practical value. It is desirable that 
pupils should have a respect for the teach- 
er's acquirements, but it is of much greater 
consequence that they have a profound 
veneration for his honesty. Some teachers 
sacrifice the good opinion of their pupils 
in a weak attempt to get credit for having 
more wisdom than they really possess. It 
would be much more dignified for them to 
acknowledge a deficiency of knowledge, 
than a want of candor. 

The attempts made by teachers some- 
times to conceal their lack of knowledge, 
are exceedingly ridiculous, A class in 
charge ot a student teacher was reading 
Moir's poem, " To a Dying Infant," in the 
Provincial Model School, Toronto. The 
lines, — 



MANNER. 127 

" Yes, with the quiet dead, 

Baby, thy rest shall be ; 
Oh ! many a weary wight, 
Weary of life and light, 

Would fain lie down with thee," 

had just been read, when a boy asked the 
meaning of "wight." The student had 
evidently labored under what once was a 
popular delusion, that it was not necessary 
to prepare a reading lesson. It was clear 
that he did not know the meaning of the 
word ; but with the assumption of the air 
of one who " knoweth all " and who is just 
considering " how best to explain it," he 
said, as he read it over quickly to himself 
in order, if possible, to catch the meaning 
from the context, "Wight? — ah yes — the 
word at the end of the line ? Yes — I am 
glad you called my attention to it — that is 
a misprint, boys ; it ought to be w-h-i-t-e. 
You see this little dying infant was a col- 
ored child, and the poet means that some 
white people are so tired of living, that 
they would even be willing to lie down 
beside a little negro to get rid of their 
troubles." 



INDEX TO MISTAKES IN TEACHING, 

Accident to be distinguished from design 25 

Activity of childhood not to be repressed 20,61 

Animation and enthusiasm essential 124 

Answers should not be partial 98 

nor unnecessa- i!y minute 99 

should not be repeated by teacher 100 

Appeals to higher authority undesirable 30 

Arithmetic, how best taught 97, 115 

Assisting each other worse than direct copying. 29 

Bell not to be used to signal for order 64 

Blakiston, J. R., on importance of details 9 

Botany, how taught 197 

Censure must not be severe when fault is trifling 24 

Cheerfulness important 125 

Chemistry, changes in mode of teaching 106 

Children cannot teach each other 27 

learn their earliest lessons best 96 

should learn to master difficulties. 103, 105, 109. 113 
Classes -The teacher should not stand too near. . 22 

Cleanliness to be insisted upon 15 

Coldness and formality deaden 124 

Colors, harmony of, how to teach 114 

Commands seldom necessary 36 

Copy-books and pens should be passed in orderly 
manner » *-* 



130 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

Corporal punishment must be judicious 23, 78 

must be accompanied by explanations 74 

is not for discipline alone 77 

should not need repetition 78 

Decision important in punishment 48 

not synonymous with sternness 60 

Details of management, their importance 9 

Difficulties not to be made too simple. .103, 105, 109 

should be presented in proper order 104 

and by graduated steps 104 

Dignity never to be a bugbear 20 

Discipline should stand the test of laughter 22 

should require no physical aid 23 

should not be demonstrative. 55 

must be constant 66 

Early bird catches the worm, but early worm is 

caught , 85 

Effusiveness should not be displayed too early. 47, 48 

Enthusaism to be desired 124 

Errors not corrected because detected 90 

one correction not enough 92 

Explanation vs. repetition 89 

should be as limited as possible 104 

but clear, definite and brief 104 

Eye, importance should not be exaggerated 105 

should be guarded from short sightedness. ... 14 

Fellenberg, Philip E. von, quoted 113 

Fractions, how taught 116 

Froebel, Frederick, quoted 105 

Giggling and tittering vs. laughter 22 



INDEX. 131 

Golden rule of the teacher 109 

Good order an essential to teaching 45 

Grumbling to be avoided 25, 123 

Habits of neatness to be inculcated 15 

Hamilton, Sir Wm., quoted Ill 

Harris, W. T., quoted 19 

Hasty action to be avoided .123 

Home-work, too much not to be required 83 

Honesty imperative 126 

How to study, the pupils must be taught 24 

Huxley, Prof., quoted 84 

Ideas should precede words 102 

Immacculateness not to be assumed 125 

Indefiniteness to be avoided 94 

Information not to be given till useful 96, 121 

Individuality not to be a scare-crow 16 

Kindness the supplement of discipline, not its 
basis 50 

Language of teacher should be simple 102 

Laughter not undesirable in school room. 22 

Lessons should be explained before assigning.. 83 

should not be too long 83, 87 

nor cover too many points 93 

should not require much home-work 83 

once assigned should be tested 86 

Light in the school room from left and rear 14 

Luther, Martin, quoted 123 

Mann, Horace, quoted 76, 113 

Map-teaching taught by map-sketching 108 



132 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

Marching, position in 11 

coming in from recesses 11 

a desirable exercise at rainy recesses 30 

Marking must not be too severe 23 

if constantly low the fault is the teacher's-... 24 

should be under pupil's eye, to prevent error. . 76 

not the whole of teaching 90 

Morning greeting of each pupil desirable 34 

Notes from parents not subjects of comment. ... 44 

Objects to be used in learning, not in reviewing. 98 

Order an esential to teaching 45 

securing order vs. maintaining it... . , 46 

really preferred by the children 50 

not to be confounded with stillness 50 

not produced by startling sensations 51 

nor by the teacher's trying to be noisier than 

his pupils 52 

and never by the bell 65 

not to be demanded of all, but of individuals. . 53 

not the product of multiplied rules 53 

depends on principles 58 

must not depend on presence of the teacher.. 69 
must be obeyed by all to whom it is given. . . 70 
Paradoxical rule " The less includes the greater,". 10 
Parents should be notified when pupils misbe- 
have 37 

but not annoyed unnecessarily 39 

should never see temper in the teacher .... 40 

or be disputed with before the scholars 43 

Payne, W. H., quoted 18 

Personal neatness on part of teacher important. . 34 



INDEX. 133 

Play should be a means of acquiring influence. . 18 

Primary principle of education Ill 

" Prize gooseberries," : 95 

Profane and impure language heard at recess. . 17 

Pronouncing dictionary — best kind to have 93 

Property of the school to be protected 31, 63 

Punctuality to be enforced as a habit 15 

to be uniform on part of teacher 33 

Punishment must be explained 73 

must be somewhat formal 76 

but not merely formal 78 

<! Questioning in " ana " questioning out " 93 

Questions should not be asked in rotation 80 

should be asked before pupil is called on 80 

should not be repeated on account of inatten- 
tion r 81 

should elicit complete but not prolix answers. . 99 
attention not to be fixed on the one answering 82 

Reading, proper position and hand 13 

methods of teaching - 97 

Recesses should be under supervision 17 

no disorder allowed in school-room 29, 62 

open-air exercise to be generally required... 29 

pupils should march in from, in line 11 

short exercises desirable before each lesson.. 61 

Repetition makes remembrance 87 

more important than explanation 89 

must not be simply at time of lesson 89 

Reserve on part of teacher at first desirable 47 

Reviewing — objects should not be used 98 

Ridicule never to be employed 72 



134 MISTAKES IN TEACHING. 

Rosenkranz, Carl, quoted 113 

Rules must not be too numerous 53 

should not anticipate the necessity for them. 54, 51 

should be explained and shown to be just 55 

Sauce for the goose detects the gander 48 

School-room should be orderly at recess 29, 62 

Schoolyard should be under supervision 17 

Scolding a mistake .122 

Seat should not be left without permission 16 

Self-activity the primary end of education Ill 

Self control a prime essential G8 

Senses only the servants of the mind 10" 

Shaking, slapping, etc., must be avoided 23, 78 

Short-sightedness, precautions against 14 

Sitting, proper position to be insisted on 11,60 

not to be a habit while teaching 35 

Smart pupils need least attention ,-5 

Spelling — the best kind of spelling-book 92 

Spencer, Herbert, quoted Ill 

Stairs, how to go up and down 12 

Standing, proper position should be taught 11 

no leaning when in class 14 

required, when reading or reciting 13 

Startling a class not a proper mode of discipline 51 

Stereotyped methods to be avoided 100 

Stillness and order not synonymous 50 

in children not desirable 60 

Suggestions better than commands 36, 56 

Sympathy with pupils an absolute essential. .26, 124 
Tale-bearing not to be confounded with giving 

information 31 



INDEX. 135 

Talking too much a serious evil 101 

Teacher's golden rule 109 

Tachnical names not necessarily obscure. 103 

Telling not teaching 109 

Temper should never be shown 14, 68, 79 

Text-books should be servants, not masters. .. . 82 

Threatening unwise 122 

Trifling faults should not have serious censure. . 24 

Tyndall, Professor, quoted 110 

Unconscious tuition 124 

Uniformity of method important 15, 16 

Vitality should be imparted to subject taught. . .110 

Voice should be pitched low. 58 

Walking, proper position should be taught. .11, 63 

never on the toes 12 

up and down stairs 12 

Watchfulness, constant and all-embracing. 23, 47, 65 

Whately, Archbishop, quoted 95 

Whispering not to be allowed to "assist" 27 

Wickersham, J; P., quoted 72 

Words should be brief and plain 102 

should follow ideas, not precede 102 



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Literature, Civil Government, Physiology, Zoology, Botany, 
Geology, Mineralogy, Physics, Methods, School Economy, 
School Law, together with Latin as an optional in the place 
of Geometry. To which is added a List of the Successful 
Candidates. Flexible cloth, 16mo., pp. 191 25 



Huntington (Rt. Rev. F. D.) Unconscious Tuition. Second 

Edition. Paper, 16mo., pp. 45. 15 

Northam (Henry C.) Civil Government foi* Common Schools. 
Prepared as a manual for Public Instruction in the State 
of New York. To which are appended the Constitution of 
the State of New York, as amended at the election of 1880, 
the Constitution of the United States, and the Declaration of 
Independence. Sixth Edition, mostly from entirely new 
plates. Cloth, 16mo., pp. 185 75 

Periodicals. The School Bulletin and New York State Educa- 
tional Journal. Established 1874. Monthly, 16 pp., 10x14. 
Per Year. - 1 00 

Bound Vols. I— VII, Cloth, 200 pp. , each 2 00 

The New Education and Kindergarten Messenger. Established 

1877. Monthly, 16 pp., 7x10. Per year 1 00 

TOPICS OF THE DAY, a Monthly Leaflet for Supplemen- 
tary Reading in Public Schools. 2 pp., 6x9. Per year... 36 

THE SCHOOL ROOM. A Monthly Journal of Practical 

Help to Young Teachers. 16 pp., 7x11. Per year 50 

Pooler (Charles T.) Chart of Civil Government. A list of the 
Law-Making Powers and Officers, arranged according to 
the similarity of their duties, in the United States, State of 
New York, County, Town, School-District, City, and In- 
corporated Village. Cloth, 16 mo., folded 25 

The Same, in sheets 12x18, per hundred 5 00 

HINTS ON TEACHING ORTHOEPY. Paper, 12mo„ 

pp. 15... 10 

Regents' Questions. Ten Editions. Complete iciih Key. The 
Regents' Questions from the first examination in 1866. Being 
the Questions for the preliminary examinations for admission 
to the University of the State of New York, prepared by the 
Regents of the University, and participated in simultaneously 
"by more than 250 academies, forming a basis for the distri- 
bution of more than a million of dollars. Jftd Edition, to 

June, 1880. Cloth, 16mo., pp. 408 - 2 00 

Complete, without Key -- 1 00 

Arithmetic, 1153 Questions.. _ 25 

Key to Arithmetic 25 

Geography, 1687 Questions 25 

Key to Geography 25 

Grammar, 2665 Questions 25 

Grammar and Key with References to Leading Grammars. .. 1 00 

Spelling, 4400 Words.... 25 

1000 Arithmetic Questions, Card board slips and Key 1 00 

Any book in this list will be promptly sent on receipt of price. 
Address C. W. BARDEEN, Syracuse, N. Y. 



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